Contagion
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: Following Vrak's failures, Bluefur invokes the power of the mysterious "Brotherhood" to enact a new plan against the Rangers. Can they cope with the new threat?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Guess who's back? Had a fun vacation, and I'm back to writing. Hope you enjoy it.

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names/places/characters/events etc. Anything not covered by these rights are to be assumed to be purely the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T-there will be some adult themes.

The Summer was continuing, and by now, the heat was becoming an issue. It was growing in intensity, which in California was really saying something! People who normally didn't have much to worry about were succumbing to heatstroke and sunburn, meaning that doctors offices were seriously busy. Stores, cafes and restaurants were selling bottles of water by the caseload, and things were showing no signs of changing any time soon. It was so swelteringly hot, that instead of crowding out, the park and the streets practically emptied around midday, with people relying on air conditioning to stop themselves from suffering.

Out in the woods, under the heavy blanket of foliage to block out the worst of the heat, the Rangers were training. Well, they were trying to train, but as the sun reached its highest point, most of them were taking longer and longer breaks. The warm air made breathing a bit more of a chore, and so exhaustion was an issue, which was exactly the reason that Troy wanted them to work hard. He doubted that the Warstar would have conquered so many worlds if a little heatwave would discourage them, and so he wanted them to all be ready if they had to fight a major battle in these conditions. Gia was sitting on her trademark leather jacket, which she found herself wearing less and less these days due to its unfortunate habit of just making the heat and the sweating worse. Even then, her t-shirt was showing distinctive signs of damp, and her hair was significantly darker. She slugged some more water, grateful that Tensou was able to teleport them a steady supply so they didn't need to head back into town.

Noah was sitting a little way off, but it was an improvement. He was actually back to spending time with the group. He and Emma generally only exchanged a few words here and there, a sure fire sign that he hadn't yet plucked up the courage to resolve things with her. Gia and Emma both knew about his feelings for her, and they knew he'd struggled to be around her now she was with Troy. He seemed to be alright with Troy, which she had a little trouble deciding whether that was an indication that he hadn't told Troy, or if he had, and they'd cleared the air. Unfortunately, without doing the same for Emma was causing her friend no end of anxiety. Seeing Emma hand him a bottle of water, before coming back across to her, she couldn't help feeling badly for her. Emma took a lot of things to heart, and it pained her to know that she had caused Noah pain, even if she had no intention of doing so, or any idea she had. She sat with Gia, on her denim jacket. She gulped down some water, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Still nothing?" Gia asked. Emma just sighed and nodded sadly. "Emma, you can't keep beating yourself up over this."

"I just...I really hate what this has done to him." Emma told her. "I really...I just want everything back to the way it was."

"Well, if experience is anything to go by, I stopped believing things can be 'how they were' months ago." Gia answered. "Maybe all you can hope for is a slightly different friendship with him."

"I know, it's just...I guess it just sucks that it's taking so long." Emma answered. "I was hoping that it would get easier."

"It will." Gia assured her.

"Well, can it get easier a little quicker?" Emma asked rhetorically. Just then, she winced as Jordan came crashing to the ground a little way from them.

He, Jake and Troy were all still sparring in a three way contest. Jake, by virtue of his years of soccer, was used to playing a long and strenuous game in multiple climates. The Harwood team had played and trained right throughout the year, meaning they'd have to endure winter cold, and summer heat. Troy...well, he was just...Troy. Nothing stopped him from training. If he was able to stand on his own two feet, he would be the first one to start, and the last to finish.

Jordan kipped up back to his feet as Jake came in for another attack, and launched into a vicious kick to the ribs, doubling him over. Jake just rolled out the way, leaving them to it.

"OK, this is getting a little intense for me." Jake admitted breathlessly as Gia handed him some water. "God, this heat is killing me!"

"It's killing all of us." Gia replied, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Still, it's not all bad." Emma replied. They both looked at her, a little confused. "It does have certain advantages."

As the sparring match continued, Troy and Jordan's clothing was completely matted to them. As Jordan managed to pull a grapple by grabbing Troy's t-shirt, it was only the dampness that allowed him to slip out. Troy took the cue to prevent that happening again by taking off his shirt and throwing it aside.

"I take it you're enjoying the view?" Jake teased her. Emma just bit her lip and nodded.

The match hit a turning point as Troy managed to catch Jordan in a choke hold. Jordan struggled against it, and all his recent frustrations came to him vividly. In his last battle, he had been handed a decisive and humiliating defeat by Bluefur, the master of the Toxic Mutants. Although he'd had his fair share of tough battles, he had never really found himself hopelessly outmatched. Bluefur had taken everything he threw at him, and proceeded to lay waste to him. It was only the Rangers going into retreat as Noah activated the bomb that prevented him from suffering worse.

It was as Troy went with his every motion, denying his every attempt to release the hold that his mind just hit a red mist. All he could see was Bluefur laughing at him, treating him with contempt. In a swift move, he elbowed Troy hard in the ribs, winding him, before grabbing his arm, rolling through with it in a hard throw, taking Troy to the ground. He just didn't stop though, ending up on top of Troy.

It was as the first fist slammed into the side of his face, that Troy realised he was in trouble and covered up. His experience in Martial Arts was the only thing preventing Jordan's onslaught causing him serious harm as he continued to pound away, finding Troy's forearms in the way at every juncture. Eventually, the others pulled the two of them apart.

"Jordan, what the hell?" Troy demanded. He had trained with many Martial Artists, so he was no stranger to taking a few shots, but this wasn't the first time they'd had to have words with Jordan. Unlike Troy and Gia, who had learned from Martial Arts instructors in dojos, Jordan had learned his from a Special Forces combat instructor on military bases his dad was posted to. He had been taught, for the most part, full contact, and about disabling an opponent quickly and brutally. It was a different thing from what they knew, and while it did have its advantages, preparing him for the war in a way some of the others hadn't been, it was a little tougher getting him out of that mindset. "We've talked about this!"

"Sorry." Jordan replied quickly, before going aside to get some water. He pulled off his shirt, and gulped the water, before coming back. "So, back to..."

"Wait, that's it?" Emma asked. "Jordan!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it." Jordan reiterated. "Now, Troy, how about..."

"I think maybe we've trained enough for now." Troy replied. "Maybe we'll hit the community pool or something. This heat is making us..."

"You think this is hot? Try training in Kandahar." Jordan stated.

"Look, we're all tired; we're all baking alive, maybe we should call time for now." Noah suggested. "I know I could do with some time somewhere with aircon."

"Second." Jake replied wearily. As Emma and Gia both nodded, Jordan realised it was pointless to protest. Although he was desperate to go on, to find and eliminate any weakness that Bluefur could exploit, he could see that he was outnumbered. He just sighed.

"I guess I'm heading home." He replied. "I'll see you guys later."

As he walked off, Emma just looked to Troy.

"Are you...?"

"I'll be fine." Troy interrupted her, watching as Jordan disappeared into the woods. "It'll probably bruise up in a little while, but I'll live."

"This isn't the first time he's lost it." Gia commented.

"Come on, he's getting better." Noah answered. "Maybe it's like Troy said, this heat makes everyone crazy."

"It wasn't you he punched in the face." Emma said abruptly, before backing off as she saw Noah looking at her. Perfect, this was exactly what she didn't want, to find herself picking sides between him and Troy. "I mean..."

"Like I said, it got out of hand, but I'm fine." Troy assured her, picking up his shirt. "Now, where are we going? Community pool?"

"Uh...not likely." Noah said sadly, pulling out his wallet and looking inside. "Allowance day isn't until next week."

"So get a job like any other teenager." Jake said with a shrug. Noah just looked at him wearily.

"Yeah, so says the guy whose dad earns my whole family's annual salary in the first two quarters." Noah answered. Jake just shrugged.

"Well, it was only a suggestion." He answered. "So...Brainfreeze?"

"I guess our options are limited." Emma agreed. "Besides, I'm sure Gia would just LOVE to go there."

Gia just punched her in the shoulder and glared at her. Emma was only teasing, and was careful not to blurt it out to the others, but Gia still told her everything. It was only days ago that Cat had told Gia that she was in love with her for the first time. It was a huge thing for Gia, who was so thrilled, she had to tell someone. Emma, although delighted for her best friend, just couldn't resist a few such carefully-placed comments.

"OW!" Emma whined. "Haven't we seen enough Ranger on Ranger violence today?"

"Well, ice-cream does sound good." Jake replied. "Do you think Gosei would mind us teleporting there?"

"I think that comes under his 'don't abuse your power for personal gain' rule." Noah suggested. "If we start walking now, we'll get there just after the lunch rush."

Elsewhere, at the site of the old chemical plant, Vrak strode into the centre, finding mutants scurrying around, performing a number of vital repairs. The plant, having been built for manufacturing dangerous chemicals, had mostly survived structurally speaking, but Noah's rather generous use of plastique explosives had left the place a complete mess. Even out here in the main chamber, what Bluefur liked to think of, and insisted his underlings referred to as his "Throne Room", was charred, and much of the structures that he viewed as twisted artwork to decorate the haven that was the centre of his "Kingdom" was obliterated. The entire furnace area had been completely destroyed, but by virtue of being built to withstand blasts, it had taken the brunt of the damage, and left most of the building intact. Bluefur was directing the cleanup operation as he heard a hush. He turned slowly, finding Vrak dragging the corpse of one of his mutants, one that seemed to have been a groundhog at one time.

"You...you have a lot of nerve to show your face in here!" Bluefur snarled as he approached. "Your creation failed, your experiment was destroyed, my home has been left in ashes, and you DARE to come into my throne chamber uninvited and dragging the body of one of my guards?" Bluefur roared as he stood, towering over Vrak, flexing his muscles. Vrak just dropped the body.

"He said I couldn't speak to you, even though it is a matter of some importance." Vrak commented, dropping the corpse on the floor. "It was unfortunate, but unavoidable. Perhaps he would make a handsome cloak?"

Bluefur just held up a hand as some mutants closed in. Even Vrak knew he was playing a dangerous game. The mutants had a kinship, a brotherhood, a kind of connection that was alien to the Warstar. They were united in being unnatural creatures that should never have existed in the first place. They were all united in being shunned by all creatures, even those that at one time had been their kin. They were united in a way that made them dangerous even beyond their individual strength. Any mutant would rush to defend another regardless of the foe. Vrak killing one of their own was bad enough, but to insult and demean the act was tantamount to a declaration of war. The mutants though still followed Bluefur's instruction and backed off, even though only a single motion would lead to every one of them tearing him apart within seconds.

"Explain your presence quickly." Bluefur put down bluntly. "I may change my mind."

"I know that my experiment was not fully developed, and its destruction has delayed it." Vrak began. In truth, it had decimated his plan. He had kept none of his research on the Warstar flagship. He had kept none of his data or equipment there, fearful a similarly ambitious comrade would steal it and make him obsolete. The destruction of his lab had effectively destroyed everything of his work that wasn't in his head. Realistically, it could take years for him to recover the point where he was, never mind improve it to the point he wanted to. "However, I have come again to advise you in strategy, and humbly suggest a plan of attack to rid ourselves of our mutual..."

"Oh do shut up!" Bluefur snapped. "If your head was any further up my rear you'd be able to tell me what I had for my last meal!"

"Sire..."

"The last battle, while a disaster, was also very educational." Bluefur told him. "I personally faced their mightiest weapon, their Robo Knight, and frankly, I was not impressed."

"With all due respect..."

"With NO due respect, so far all your plans have accomplished is the destruction of my throne room!" Bluefur interrupted him, panning his arm around. Since his throne room had been built in the ruins of a disused chemical plant from parts he'd scavenged from several dumps, in all honesty Vrak didn't notice the difference, still Bluefur was still enraged by it. "I think it is time for one of my plans."

Just then, a door flew open, and six figures made their way in. The fact that none of the mutants thought twice about them being there indicated that they were mutants, but that was the only way to tell. All of them wore roughly-made robes that covered them from the floor, all the way up, ending in a hood that shielded their faces in shadow. They had their arms laced inside their sleeves, hiding their hands. They all looked the same with the exception of some personal trinkets that were also clearly home made. Chains wrapped around their waists and necks carried all manner of broken glass bottles, pieces of scrap metal, sparkplugs, engine parts. The one at the head of the group had a necklace made from thick, heavy string, which bore the mud-splattered head of a child's doll, with one eye missing, and clumps of its hair ripped out. Vrak had studied human culture, and as they arrived and fell to their knees before Bluefur, he saw similarities to something he had seen before. With the exception of the scrap decorations and matted, filthy robes, their style and behaviour appeared to be like that of some cult. As they brushed past him to stand before Bluefur, he recoiled in disgust, struggling to keep his stomach contents as he smelled a horrendous odour of rotting flesh, and filth that he didn't even want to contemplate. They fell to their knees, parting their arms and flapping their arms to make their sleeves cover their hands, before pressing their heads to the floor in reverence. The one at the head, the one with the doll's head amulet, merely bowed his head forward a little.

"Vrak, I would like to introduce you to The Brotherhood." Bluefur announced with a smile. "They will succeed where you have failed. You can concentrate on continuing your discussions with your Admiral about our dominion over this planet once we are through with the humans."

"Them?" Vrak asked, looking to the cloaked mutants. "You think they...?"

"Does the alien messenger doubt your wisdom or our strength my Lord?" The lead cultist asked. Bluefur just looked to Vrak.

"I would question the same Priest." Bluefur stated. "What of it Vrak?"

"They...they are..."

"We are The Brotherhood." Priest stated, like that was explanation enough. "All who stand opposed to us die."

"I think you may have underestimated..."

"Underestimation is your talent, not ours." Priest stated, standing and pointing towards Vrak. His robe fell back enough to expose his hand, which was gnarled, grotesque, bony and seemingly only barely covered in a filthy, leathery flesh. It looked like the hand should not have been capable of moving, since he could see no evidence of muscle beneath the taut skin, but could see darkened veins of an unnatural colour. Its fingers ended in nearly six inch long claws that were yellow and grimy. "If you would like a demonstration..."

"That won't be necessary, besides, the Admiral would only send another envoy, and he may be even more irritating." Bluefur stated. "I believe this climate will be ideal for your particular...talents."

"It will indeed My Lord." Priest replied as he bowed reverently. It was only then that his followers got up, keeping their heads bowed. "Oh, there is just one thing."

He pointed to the corpse of the Groundhog mutant.

"Are you going to eat that?" Bluefur just waved it off, at which the cultists hefted the body onto their shoulders, and left, following Priest. Vrak just shook his head in disbelief, but he knew better than to question it. He instead just chose to leave before Bluefur changed his mind and called off his order that he not be touched.

The Rangers all got to the Brainfreeze, finding the place pretty well packed. One of the effects of the heatwave was that people had gained an insatiable appetite for ice-cream. As they got in, the others found a table, while Jake and Gia went to order. Gia had kind of a sneaky way of ensuring they got quick service, even when it was busy. It was just one of the fringe benefits.

"Hey, you guys are here!" Cat screeched, running over to hug Gia. Jake just chuckled nearby and sat on the edge of a table. Only months ago, Gia would probably have called him out on something similar, using flirting as a way to get speedy service he wasn't entitled to. He was genuinely happy that Gia had found someone that made her happy in a way he knew that he wasn't entitled to.

As Cat started to make up Gia's order, catching up as she did so, he noticed Theo smiling and picking up a microphone.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special surprise for all of you!" Theo announced as Luen tried to calm the crowd. "Back where he belongs, the one you all know and love, give it up for the Hero of Harwood Mall, Ernie!"

The customers all turned to the door just as Ernie arrived, walking on crutches. His injuries from the nail bomb were extensive, and he was clearly still a long way off being back to full health, but everyone knew how much he loved the place, and didn't doubt he would be back in his own home as soon as the doctors would allow him to leave. He was limping heavily, and his expression showed how much effort it took to walk, but he smiled as he came back into the shop. Everyone cheered and applauded as he walked in.

"It's so good to be home!" He announced as he took in their cheers. Gia walked over towards him, unable to believe what she was seeing. She had visited him a couple of times in hospital. It meant the world to her that he had risked himself to save her and Cat when he saw the bomb. She just stood, staring at him, her lip quivering, her eyes watering up, and her mind unable to find anything of meaning to say. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around him, taking him in a huge hug. Cat joined her, having also been saved by him as everyone cheered.

"I can't believe you're back." Gia whimpered. "Are you...I mean...shouldn't you be...?"

"I have spent quite enough time in bed." He told her, holding the girls tightly. "Believe me, it will be a while before I am getting behind that counter, but it's good to be home."

"It's good to have you home." Gia replied, beaming brightly.


	2. The Brotherhood

The following day, the heat showed no sign of letting up, and once again, people were suffering. Outside of the city, out at the reservoir, the workers found their shift even more difficult than usual. The heat made the already hard manual work even harder. The fact that the heatwave meant a naturally higher demand just added to their woes. One of the workers pulled off his hard hat, mopping some sweat from his brow as a security guard came by. He pulled out a bottle of water, one of the few perks of his job.

"God, Jeff, when was the last time you remember the weather being like this?" The worker asked.

"It's been a while Cory." He answered, leaning against a wall for a breather. "Surely there has to be some kind of law about working in this heat."

"Um...Jeff?" Cory asked. "What do you make of that?"

The security guard looked to where Cory was pointing, just beyond the fence. Six figures in long, flowing cloaks. As they approached, Jeff came up to the fence. He gestured to his badge.

"Security, can I help you...?" He asked, approaching the strange figures. He stopped, almost gagging as he suddenly smelled them. The stench of decay and rotting was overwhelming. He almost gagged as he looked to them. "What the...?"

"If you would be so kind my brother." Priest stated. One of the Brotherhood members pulled a pair of huge blades, made of rusted, filthy metal from beneath his cloak, each one looking like it weighed almost as much as a person. He sliced through the fence with ease, allowing the Brotherhood into the grounds. Jeff immediately got onto the radio.

"Security, all units to station..." His words got cut off though as his radio was swiped from his hand by Priest. The rest of The Brotherhood rushed out in all directions, taking out blades as they ran to tackle the woefully overpowered security team.

Jeff fumbled with his pistol, pointing it at Priest in a panic. He opened fire, and he watched the shots hit home, but the hooded figure just advanced, not even flinching. He grabbed the gun from him, throwing it away. He grabbed the terrified guard with his clawed, bony hands, and rammed him against the wall.

"I shot you!" The guard shrieked. "H...h...how...?"

"You humans always believe yourselves so strong because of your guns and your weapons and your machines." Priest told him. "But none of you have any grasp of true power. The real power lies in the natural forces, the ones that can bring an entire civilisation to the brink of extinction in a matter of days."

Priest pulled down his hood, revealing his hideous face. It was that of a gigantic rat, with filthy, matted fur that looked like at one time it should have been white. Its teeth were yellow, and its fur was interspersed with disgusting sores and boils. One eye was completely gone, having dissolved in disgusting ooze. Priest glared at him with his one remaining eye.

"You will fall before the glorious power of plague." He stated, scratching him deeply with his talons. Jeff got up and ran, followed by the rest of the workers and security that were still alive. Priest looked to his Brothers as they assembled before him.

"My Father, you allowed him to leave?" One of them asked. "You gifted him with your blessed contagion?"

"He will have the honour of the sweet agony of my blessing My Brother." He replied, turning to the reservoir. "Now, let us spread the love of our blessing. Brother Purge, if you would be so kind."

Another of the Brotherhood, one that was grossly bloated, only around five feet in height, and almost as wide as he was tall, pulled down his hood, revealing a dark furred head. He too was a rat. He approached the edge, hopping up on the short wall, his tail thrashing behind him.

"As you wish Father." He replied, rearing back his head.

At Jordan's place, Jordan was in his basement gym, running through some tough training exercises. He had been almost since the incident in the woods the previous day. He still regretted losing it with Troy, but he couldn't help feeling the way he did. The others didn't understand, none of them did, not like him.

His defeat at Bluefur's hands was a wake-up call. The Robo Knight had been re-activated, had sought out a host because of the threat the mutants presented to the planet. Zordon's great weapon had activated because it became clear that the power of Gosei's team was no longer enough. Jordan, the guy who had been obsessed with the Rangers his whole life, who had dreamed of being a Ranger since he was old enough to even say the word Ranger, had finally gotten his wish. The Robo Knight Armour had sensed his desire to battle the forces threatening the planet, and attached itself to him because of that.

It hadn't all been smooth sailing. He hadn't expected parades in his honour or legions of fans bowing at his feet, but from the word go, he had to doubt himself. When the armour had first claimed him as a host, its primary programming had taken complete control of him. He had no control over anything he did when the armour activated itself. His first battles, his earliest encounters with the Toxic Mutants and the Warstar had been like a horror movie. He could only watch as his own hands wrought destruction and chaos on the world, not caring about what happened to anyone else around in a single-minded pursuit of its primary mission, to destroy anything it deemed a threat to the planet. It wasn't rage, it wasn't hatred, it was just...a mission. There was nothing else, not even innocent bystanders.

When he finally managed to wrench control from the armour, things just became a lot more difficult. He had to force it at first to do what he wanted. In his first battle in control, he had leapt off a cliff to force it to activate, realising that without a living host, it would be unable to fulfil its mission. After that, came the long and difficult process of earning his new power, earning his place. He found that to be almost impossible. He had no idea of the powers at his command. His whole time training had been dedicated to harnessing and controlling the strength he had so that he didn't end up being the very menace he sought to destroy. It was something he was improving at, but even he had to admit that he still at times underestimated his power, and ended up laying waste to a lot more than just his enemies.

Now, he had another issue. The balance of control and power was a costly one. He was holding back. Thinking back to his first battle, he had managed to hurt Bluefur. Indeed, he had sent Bluefur, Biggs running for the hills, before destroying Hisser, their first henchman. Thinking about it now, it was the only explanation. How had the Robo Knight, the being that had sent Bluefur into retreat fallen so far that it had been defeated easily by him in single combat? The only thing different was that it was now Jordan in control. He was the weak link. As he continued to work out, he didn't notice Jake coming in behind him.

It was only when Jake coughed; he turned and prepared to attack, only to stop when he saw who it was. Jordan just sighed and backed off.

"Dude, seriously?" He asked. "Do you treat all your guests this way?"

"Most guests call or knock first." Jordan told him. "How did you get in anyway?"

"You left the front door unlocked." Jake told him. "I rang and I knocked, but there was no answer. When the door opened, I just came in. You did say we could come by any time."

"Yeah, walking in without knocking is kind of pushing the limit though." Jordan muttered, heading to a fridge and grabbing two fruit drinks, throwing one to Jake. "Still, you're here now, so I guess it's a moot point."

"Jordan, about yesterday..."

"Look, I lost it. I shouldn't have." Jordan admitted sadly. "It's like Troy said, maybe the heat..."

"Jordan, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, I really do, but even you have to admit this isn't the first time something like this has happened." Jake told him, taking a sip. "Jordan, what's going on?"

"I'm just trying to get better." Jordan reiterated.

"By going berserk any time things don't go your way?" Jake asked him. "Jordan, you know that I know better than most what that can do."

"Jake..."

"I'm serious Jordan, my anger problems...I've got a hold on them, but when Dean did what he did to Gia...Let's just say, I know that guy's still inside me." Jake warned him, recalling his experience. He had ended up spending a summer in Juvenile Detention as a result of his explosive temper, during which he received counselling for it. When another student had taken it upon himself to humiliate Gia publically by putting her journal online for the whole town to see, outing her before she was ready to face the public, he'd ended up beating him to a pulp. It was only by virtue of some very strong reassurances at a hastily organised meeting that he hadn't ended up in very serious trouble. "I'm just suggesting, maybe...maybe this is something you need to talk about."

"What is there to talk about? I faced off against Bluefur, and I got creamed!" Jordan stated firmly.

"So, we don't always win you know!" Jake reminded him. "No Ranger team went undefeated! The most important thing is if we survive, we get up and we keep trying!"

"And that's exactly what I'm doing!" Jordan told him bluntly. "I got handed my ass, clearly I'm not enough to get the job done, so now I'm just trying to make sure I will be the next time."

"Alright." Jake replied, still not entirely convinced by this answer. "So...um...are you going to stay in here yourself all day? I just thought maybe you'd like to head to the park. The soccer team's trying out some guys for the goalie position."

"I guess I could go and take a look." Jordan answered. "I do kind of suck in goal."

"I'll just let you shower first." Jake replied. "I'll meet you down there."

As he left, Jordan just slugged some more of his juice, still consumed with his frustration. He was the weak link; the Robo Knight had power to spare. It was only since he had been a factor that it hadn't devastated the mutants ranks the way it had. Maybe he was the problem. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing the Robo Knight wasn't in control anymore. At least he could get the job done.

In the city, over at the offices of Cerberus, Louise was hard at work in her new job. It was nothing glamorous, just an office job dealing with contracts, invoices and mail. Still, it was paid employment, something she desperately needed right now.

She was also fortunate that Cerberus' offices were fully air-conditioned. It was a luxury that all of the on-site staff greatly appreciated. She saw Eric coming out of the elevator with Wayne, returning from lunch. She approached them, handing a document to Eric.

"Eric, your secretary had to step out. She was looking a little pale and said she didn't feel well.." She told him. "She just wanted me to remind you about that teleconference with Mr Hayamoto at three, and the Markinson group wanted you to call them about renegotiating their rate."

"Yeah, they expect presidential level security and then wonder why I don't charge the same rate as two dollar an hour rent-a-cops." He grumbled. "Thanks Louise..."

He saw her starting to sweat and fidget as he looked at her.

"Louise, are you OK?" He asked. "I thought the air con..."

"It is, I guess I just..." She started to say, before straightening herself out. "I guess I just need to lay off the coffee."

"Yeah, I never understood people drinking hot drinks in this kind of weather." He chuckled. "There are water coolers all round the place."

"Listen Eric, I just wanted to say...thanks again for this job." She told him. He just smiled.

"Hey, anything to help." He replied. He and Wayne turned and started to walk away, heading for his office. Just then, an office junior came out of the bathroom, looking decidedly wobbly on his feet. He was wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, a sure sign he'd been sick. He got a few more paces, before falling face-first to the floor.

Wayne rushed to his side, turning the kid over as Eric pulled out his cell phone.

"He's burning up." Wayne told him, checking his forehead. "He's lost consciousness, I can't bring him round."

"This is Wayne Goodall; I need an ambulance urgently at..." Eric started to say. Before he could go any further, he heard another thump as another employee keeled over, dropping a coffee cup on the floor. He then heard another from right behind him, and saw that Louise had collapsed onto her desk. "Scratch that, unknown number of casualties, send everything you can!"

He ran to Louise's side, lowering her to the floor, and checking her airway was clear. He looked up as several of his men ran into view.

"Sir, some of the men just collapsed!" One of them told him. "About half a dozen on the third floor."

"Nearly a dozen on the fifth." Another informed him. Eric just looked to Wayne.

"This can't be a coincidence. Call the hospital back and tell them we suspect some kind of toxin or biological agent's been released in the building." Eric instructed him. "Put the building on full lockdown, no one enters or leaves until everyone's checked out and cleared by medical personnel. Until further notice, we have to assume we've been the victims of a..."

"I don't think it's just us." Wayne answered, pointing out the window. Eric came to the window and saw that people on the street were collapsing. Ambulances were rushing around the city in all directions. Sirens could be heard for miles around.

"Sir, what do we do?" One of his team asked. Eric just ran a hand through his hair.

"Complete quarantine." Eric reiterated. "This changes nothing."

"Eric..."

"Wayne, contact our friends at the CDC, pull some strings and get people over here now." Eric snapped. "Everyone that's still on their feet, report to us immediately if you feel any different. For now, we have to presume everyone's been exposed."

"What about the others?" Wayne asked him.

"We keep them as comfortable as we can." Eric told them as he dialled his phone. "Call your families, tell them what's happening. Until we know anything, nobody's going anywhere."

Over at the Brainfreeze, Noah was in the corner, working on his laptop when Quinn came in for her lunch order. She looked over to where he was working, a little dreamily as Cat came over to take her order.

"See anything you'd like?" Cat asked her teasingly. Quinn just smiled and nodded dreamily. "Um...perhaps you'd like to tell me?"

"Oh...um...I'd like a milkshake...peanut butter and caramel." She replied. Cat just went to get her order, while she continued staring at him. She straightened out her uniform, and started to head over.

"Hey there, working on anything interesting?" She asked him. "Still Spiders?"

"Kind of." Noah replied, shutting down his laptop. He and Tensou were still working on tests to see if there was a way to turn Spider back to his original state. He was currently being held in the command centre in a suspended animation chamber while they tried to undo the transformation Vrak had caused. He looked up to Quinn, who looked around. "I guess the wildlife centre's busy."

"Yeah, the heat's going for some of the animals." She told him. "The lizards don't mind so much, but we're having to put sun block on the pigs about three times a day."

"You put sun block on pigs?" He asked.

"Their skin's really sensitive, that's why they wallow." She told him. "So...water?"

Noah sighed and looked to the glass of iced tap water.

"Yeah, allowance day is next week." Noah told her.

"Oh...well...maybe you could work at the wildlife centre!" She suggested. "They're always looking for people."

"Yeah, maybe." He sighed. "I guess it would give me something to keep my mind from this stuff."

"I'll see if I can get you an application." She said with a smile. "In the meantime, want me to get you a milkshake? I could join you for..."

"No thanks, I'm kind of in the middle of something." He told her, holding up his glass. "This'll have to do for now."

"OK." She replied, trying to hide her disappointment as Cat came to her with her milkshake. "Maybe another time? I'll drop off that application."

As she left, Cat waited until she was out of view, before putting her hands on her hips and looking at Noah judgementally.

"OK, what was that?" She asked.

"What?" He asked.

"A girl wants to buy you a milkshake and you turn her down?" Cat asked her.

"I have a drink." He replied. Cat rolled her eyes.

"Never mind the drink. You...you really don't get it do you?" She asked him. Noah just shook his head and shrugged. "I thought you were smart."

"Yeah, that's how to talk to customers." He shot back as she went back to the counter.

"Technically customers buy things, not just sit and abuse our free wifi." She teased him. Noah just snorted.

"Sorry, but until Friday, tap water will just have to do." Noah replied, lifting the glass to his lips and taking a long gulp.


	3. The Plague

In a hospital in central Harwood, a doctor was working frantically with a patient. The recent heat wave meant that admissions had been higher anyway, between those with sunburn, heat stroke, those who'd had a little too much to drink, and just in general people being more active increasing the number of accidents and sporting injuries, but this was something else. Within only the six hours since her shift had begun, Dr Mitchell had seen the number of people being rushed into the place in ambulances skyrocket!

She didn't know what was going on, but it was clear it wasn't natural. Normally, whenever an epidemic started, it started gradually. A few people would get sick at first, then a few more, then a whole wing of the hospital would be full...then...the fact was that for a day when she should have reasonably expected to see maybe thirty to forty admissions, the city had descended into a state of emergency.

"Alright, get him on a saline drip, he's dangerously dehydrated." She instructed one of the nurses. "I want an update every hour."

"Um...Dr Mitchell?" A young Asian man asked as he arrived. She barely even registered him as she started walking towards the changing room.

"Everyone calls me Dana." She informed him. "Now, I've been on shift for twelve hours, there's another twelve before I can even think about going home, so make it fast!"

"I'm Terry, Terry Watanabe?" He asked her. "I was sent over by Panorama Med School..."

"Well, make yourself useful and find a set of scrubs." She told him. "I have nearly six hundred patients and staff to cover about half that. If you want to prove you're up to a career in medicine, now's the time."

"I'm on it." He assured her. Dana watched him go and took a bottle of water from the desk taking a long drink. Whatever was going on, she was in a losing battle. Until they figured out what the plague was, it was only a matter of time until the first fatalities.

The Rangers all got teleported to the command centre, landing rather unceremoniously in a heap. It had been a long time since he had snatched them from their lives like that, so they knew it had to be serious.

"Jeez Gosei, how about a bit of warning next time?" Jake grumbled as he got up, rubbing his ass to get some feeling back in it.

"I am afraid we do not have the luxury of such niceties." He told them. "The city is facing a huge threat."

"Tell us something we don't know." Gia replied. "We have been fighting..."

"I am afraid this threat is something even more serious, something that we never anticipated." He began to explain. "The city's hospitals have reported a huge spike in admissions. People have been struck down by a mystery illness, one that is taking hold unnaturally quickly."

"So...you called us here because people are getting sick?" Jake asked him. "No offence Gosei, but..."

"The incubation period of most viruses can be measured in days." Gosei interrupted him. "The fact that the first reported casualties came within the last couple of hours..."

"Wait, what?" Emma asked. "Casualties? As in..."

"Some patients are already dead." Tensou confirmed sadly. "The elderly and children mainly, the most vulnerable, but things will only get worse."

"OK, what do we know?" Noah replied as he made his way to the console. He started to pull up some records. "Wait, these symptoms...this...this can't be right."

"What is it?" Troy asked him. Noah just looked to him.

"The symptoms make no sense." Noah told him. "Bubonic plague, smallpox, scarletina..."

"Wait, aren't all those things extinct?" Jake asked him. Noah just nodded.

"Until today, I'd have agreed with you they are!" Noah told him. "This plague...it bears hallmarks of all of them!"

"How is that even possible?" Gia asked.

"Damned if I know." Noah replied, mopping some sweat from his brow. "But I can't argue with the data!"

"This can't be natural." Troy put down flatly. "Gosei, what could have done this?"

"I believe it may be some form of biological weapon." Gosei told him. "I believe it is possible that the Warstar..."

"No, not them." Noah cut him off. "Think about it, where would they get access to terrestrial viruses? I think it's more likely it's down to the mutants."

Noah swayed a little on his feet, before steadying himself on a bench. He looked to the others.

"If it is down to the mutants, it might be worth questioning Spider." He told them. "I know he wasn't with them long, but he might have heard something while he was being held..."

"I'll bring him round." Tensou replied as he whizzed away. Noah, just leaned against the console as Troy gathered the others around him.

"Biological warfare?" He asked. "This is a new low, even for the mutants."

"So what do you think we're looking for?" Jordan asked. Just then, an alarm went off. Jake pointed to a view screen.

"I'm going out on a limb and saying it probably has something to do with that." Jake replied.

"Alright whoever these guys are, let's take them down fast!" Troy replied. "The hospital isn't far from there, if people are getting sick, the last thing they need is a mutant attack."

In a park, a couple of streets from the central hospital, people were enjoying the weather when the Brotherhood arrived. A kid playing with a Frisbee inadvertently threw it so that it landed at his feet. Priest bent down picking it up.

"Ah...these conditions are perfect for our glorious plague." He stated. "Rejoice, for you will all receive the blessing of the power of our blessed sickness! Kneel before us as we spread our decay!"

As his brothers pulled down their hoods, revealing their faces, the people in the park started to run. Priest just turned to one of them.

"Brother Swarm, if you would be so kind." He instructed one of his brothers. The mutant in question threw open his robe, which unleashed a plague of insects flying out. A shot rang out, scorching many of the insects as the Rangers arrived. Troy put his blaster back in his pocket.

"You would deny the people my gift?" Priest asked.

"Gift?" Jake asked judgementally. "You call this a gift?"

"Of course, the one true power is the power of decay." Priest told him. "The one true power is disease. It brings the mightiest of foes to their knees within hours. Why, we only infected this city hours ago."

"You did this?" Noah asked. "You're nothing but glorified plague rats!"

"Ah, but you will find we are so much more than that." Priest replied, drawing a long, rusty blade from his tattered robes. "Brothers, perhaps it is time they learned the strength of our creed."

With that, the Brotherhood rushed forward. Jordan headed instinctually straight for the largest of the mutants, aiming to take down the most obvious threat. It was only as he received a hard shot from one of its massive fists that his vision blurred and he realised how deceptively strong it was. It was tall, perhaps twelve feet from its nose to the tip of its tail, and had filthy, brown fur. It snarled as it rounded on him, pulling out two long, curved daggers.

"I'm guessing you're not much of a talker." Jordan replied, pulling out his Robo Blade. "Trust me, that suits me just fine!"

Back at Cerberus, the CDC team had arrived, and were getting to work trying to stabilise the first of the plague victims. Eric had laid Louise out on a boardroom table as a makeshift bed while a medical team worked on her.

"She needs fluids, set up an IV of saline." The doctor replied.

"What's wrong with her?" Eric demanded.

"If I knew that, trust me, I'd be a happy man." The doctor replied. "Now, give us some room to work."

"She's one of my best friends!" Eric snapped at him. "I'm not going anywhere!"

"Well at least try and think of anything that might tell us what caused this." The doctor replied. "Is there anything she's done today, that the others have done today that you haven't?"

"I...I don't know, it's been a pretty standard day." Eric replied. "I mean, Wayne and I went for lunch, but most of the guys in the office ate from the snack cart. If it was anything they ate...surely more people would be affected."

He took a long swig from his bottle of Evian, before turning to Louise.

"How bad is it?"

"She's relatively healthy, so her odds are good." The doctor assured him. "But until we know what caused this, we're just making people comfortable."

Eric just sat by Louise's side and held her hand tenderly.

"Don't you die on me Louise." He said tearfully as he looked to his long-time friend. "I need you."

Back at the park, the Rangers found themselves quickly under pressure. The Brotherhood were individually as powerful as any opponents they'd ever faced, but together, they formed a formidable force. Jordan was slammed into the concrete, smashing it by his opponent as The Brotherhood assembled before them.

"So, you are the famed Power Rangers." Priest snorted dismissively. "Given how Bluefur speaks of you, I would have expected more."

"You want to see more, we've got plenty!" Gia snapped as she got to her feet. It was as the Rangers started to regroup that Priest's eyes were drawn to the Blue Ranger. He smiled.

"Ah, you say that, but it appears that you are not as strong as you believed." He answered, seeing a distinctive wobble in Noah's stance. "I believe one of you has already felt our blessing."

Noah could barely stand, and his vision was blurring in and out of focus as he stood before him. His Shark Bowgun, a weapon he'd wielded what felt like a million times now felt like it weighed several tons.

"Like I said, the true power is the power of plague." Priest stated. The Rangers all turned as Noah fell to his knees, and de-morphed. Sweat ran down his face at an unnatural rate, and he couldn't focus on anything. He started to vomit, and then fell forward to the ground. "Brother Swarm, if you would be so kind."

Brother Swarm threw open his robes, covering the area in a thick cloud of insects. By the time they could see, the Brotherhood were gone. Emma ran to Noah's side, falling to her knees.

"Noah?" She asked in a panic. She didn't get an answer though, he was completely out of it. "Noah, talk to me!"

"Emma, stay back..."

"NOAH!" She screamed, tears starting to run down her face.

"Emma, we don't even know what's wrong!" Troy reminded her. "If you touch him..."

"We've all been around him, we're all probably exposed." Jake reminded him. He reached down, picking Noah up. "We'll take him back to the command centre. If anyone can help him, it's Tensou."

With that, they teleported back to the command centre.

Back at Cerberus, Eric was pacing frantically in the hall. The doctors had insisted he give them room to work on Louise and the other casualties. Wayne came to him, carrying a cup of coffee.

"I thought you could use this." He responded. Eric just tossed it in the trash.

"I could use something stronger, but I doubt that would help." He answered. "What's taking them so long?"

"They're the best in the country, if anyone can help her, they can." Wayne reminded him. Eric just shook his head, at which Wayne closed the door. "This...this isn't just a friendship thing is it?"

"I swear to God Wayne, if this ever leaves this room..." Eric stated, but he cut himself off. Wayne had been his best friend ever since their tour of duty in Afghanistan. He had trusted Wayne with his life more times than anyone on the planet. "Fine, she...she is more than a friend to me."

"Eric..."

"About a month after Eleanor died...I was in a really bad place. I got really drunk, and I called Louise." He told him. "She came over, and something...happened."

"Wait...you mean..." Wayne asked him.

"It's not something I'm proud of." Eric told him. "We both had a lot to drink, we were both in a mess over Eleanor, and...Louise knew right away that it was a mistake. She was still in love with Gerald."

"I'm guessing you don't really see it that way." Wayne replied. Eric just nodded.

"Eleanor was the love of my life, that'll never change." He assured him. "I can't lose her Wayne, I can't!"

"Just let them do their job." Wayne replied. "Then, when this is over, maybe you might try telling Louise what you just told me."

Eric just nodded as he raised his Evian to his lips. It was then, as Wayne was about to take his first sip of coffee that something occurred to him. He slapped the cup out of Wayne's hand.

"HEY!" Wayne snapped.

"Wayne, we've been drinking bottled water and soda." He told him. "Louise...she fell sick after having coffee."

"But..."

"We fill the kettles from the tap!" Eric told him. He ran to one of the doctors. "It's the water Wayne, it's in the water!"

At the command centre, Emma was sitting by the side of the bench Noah was lying on, watching Tensou work over him. He eventually rolled back away from him, lowering his head.

"I've made him comfortable." He replied. "That's all I can do for now."

"What?" She whimpered. "Surely there's something..."

"The virus they're using..."

"I don't CARE what they're using Tensou, you have to cure him!" She screamed at him.

"Emma, I..."

"You have to do something!" She screamed at him.

"I'll...I'll do what I can." He told her, before heading off to continue his research. Emma just sat by his side, holding his hand.

"I'm sorry Noah." She sobbed. "I'm sorry for everything."


	4. Last Resort

Emma came out into the main room, finding the others waiting for her. Although they had seen members of the team laid low before, this was a truly terrifying turn of events. Knowing how serious the contagion was, knowing that the first fatalities had already been recorded, just made the fact that Noah was stricken with the illness even more terrifying. She looked to Jake, who was frantic, and just nodded.

"Tensou's keeping him comfortable." Emma informed him. "There's nothing else we can do until he figures out how to turn this around."

"Damn it." Jordan grumbled. "Can you believe this, we're being outwitted and overpowered by a bunch of RODENTS!"

"Jordan, this isn't going to help..."

"Well what is?" Jordan demanded. "We're already one Ranger down; the hospitals are stretched to melting point..."

"Um...this just in, it just got a little more serious." Troy told them. "According to this report, the National Guard and the CDC just quarantined the whole city."

"Well, at least they'll be sending in more medical units." Gia responded. Jordan just rolled his eyes.

"Either that or they're just waiting on this city just becoming extinct." Jordan snapped.

"Jordan, even you can't think that the military does things like that anymore." Jake reprimanded him. He knew that Jordan had quite a bit to be sceptical about in regards to the military; his dad was constantly away, leaving him mostly to fend for himself. His experience was that the military really didn't care too much about people's families or their lives. "They'll be keeping anyone from leaving and spreading the disease any further."

"Well, how does it spread anyway?" Gia asked. "I mean...all of us have been with Noah, and none of us seem to be getting sick."

"If it was airborne, surely more of us would have gotten sick by now." Emma suggested. "I know that a lot of the plagues associated with rats were down to their fleas, but how would we be bitten without anyone knowing?"

"We don't know the incubation period." Troy reminded her. "It's possible that it takes a while..."

"It can't take that long; half the city's infected already." Jake added.

"But not half of us." Emma replied. "So what did Noah do that we didn't?"

"Well, I've been training." Jordan told them.

"Me too." Troy added. "I was in the woods most of the last couple of days."

"I was too." Emma added. Everyone just looked to her, at which she just started to turn a little pink. "Oh, like that's really such a surprise!"

"I was in the Brainfreeze earlier." Gia answered with a shrug. "Noah was there earlier. Cat told me he was sitting in there on his computer."

"Yeah, he does that." Jake sighed. "He says he can't concentrate around his folks, so he usually goes to the Brainfreeze for the free wifi."

"That doesn't tell us what Noah did that the rest of us didn't." Troy commented. "I mean, if he got sick after eating there, why didn't Gia?"

"Gia, what did you have?" Jake asked him. Gia just shrugged.

"I had a milkshake." She told him. "Cat mentioned that Quinn girl that's sniffing around Noah got one and it sounded good."

"What does that matter?" Jordan asked him. Jake slapped his forehead.

"Noah's broke." He stated. The others just stared at him. "He's been broke for about a week, his parents don't give him much of an allowance, so when he's on holiday, he generally runs out about a week before the end of the month, he was borrowing money from me last week."

"So?" Jordan asked him.

"So if he's not got any money, what would he order at the Brainfreeze?" Jake asked him. "What's the one thing that he could order that wouldn't cost anything?"

"Tap water." Troy responded. "We've all been drinking bottled water."

"And now the military's called a quarantine, everyone's going to be trapped in town with the very thing that's making them sick." Emma concluded. "Unless we warn everyone and get another water supply..."

"It's not going to matter until we get rid of those rats." Jordan replied, storming away. Troy tried to grab him.

"Jordan..."

"We'll go after him." Gia assured him as she and Jake ran after him. Troy just sighed.

"We'll need to warn the military." Troy reminded her. "Unless they start bringing in an alternate water source, people are just going to keep getting sick."

"But what about Noah?" She asked him. Troy just looked to her, holding her.

"If there's a way to save him, we'll find it." He assured her. "We have to believe that."

Meanwhile, over at Central Harwood Hospital, the staff were stretched to their very limits. All leave had been cancelled, and everyone that wasn't already on shift had been called in to help. A military medical unit had turned up to help, but it was still a struggle. Every room, every corridor was full of patients, and more were arriving by the hour. Dana went to the on-call room and flopped down onto a chair, closing her eyes for a second. Although the staff had hastily put together a rota so that they could allow some of them a chance to rest, as the head of the CDC team that had been dispatched, Dana was constantly on call, and was fast approaching her twenty sixth hour on shift. Terry came in, carrying a clipboard.

"Um...Dr Mitchell?" He asked her weakly. Terry, although still a med student, had volunteered to help in the aid effort. His team back in Panorama had seen reports of the plague, and seeing how quickly it had spread, they knew there was no way it was natural. He was there to confirm the cause behind it before the rest of the team would act. Dana just groaned and rubbed her eyes. "The lab's come back with something...I think you need to take a look."

Dana just started to read the charts, flipping back and forward through it in confusion, she just looked to Terry.

"This is a mistake surely." She answered.

"The lab's done the tests a number of times to be sure." He assured her, knowing that she had to be wondering how this was possible.

"Scarletina, Smallpox, Bubonic Plague..." She started to read off.

"I know none of these..."

"They're all supposed to be extinct." Dana told him bluntly. "It looks like this town's big bad has gotten smart."

"Wait...what?" Terry asked her.

"Believe me, when you earn your medical training in Silver Hills in 2001, you have a much broader imagination." Dana told him. "It's not just any plague, it's a weapon. They're trying to use contagion to wipe us out! Why bother fighting when your enemy will just get sick and die on their own?"

"You really think so?" Terry asked her.

"And, they're really smart about it too; they're using illnesses that as far as we know are extinct!" She told him. "No one has any immunity to these things anymore, and even if we could get a vaccine, by the time we did, the losses would be devastating."

"Kind of like how the common cold nearly wiped out the Eskimo." Terry surmised, recalling his medical history. She just nodded.

"Wow, and we thought we figured it out fast." Troy stated as he came into the on-call room. He was morphed, and had Emma with him. Terry just looked to them. As a result of Lauren having met and spoken with the team, he knew who they were, but he also knew that this was a team that like his, had secret identities.

"Power Rangers." He said, pulling the best acting job he could. "Um...what are you doing here?"

"It's a group of monsters called 'The Brotherhood'." Troy explained. "They infected the local reservoir; we came to warn the military to start bringing in an alternate water source."

"That should help slow it down." Dana replied. "Until then, is there anything else we can do?"

Just then, they heard an explosion outside. Troy just looked to the window.

"Um...stay inside, stop anyone from leaving." Troy told her. "We'll...we'll handle this."

As they ran outside, Troy only wished he was half as confident as he sounded. The Brotherhood had hit a new low coming for the hospital, and with one Ranger already down, he could use all the help he could get.

Outside, Priest led his Brotherhood through the wreckage as he arrived. He smiled as he saw the humans scattering before him.

"Ah...this would make a worthy temple for our greatest blessing. I can feel the glorious sickness from here." He stated. "These sacrifices will suffice..."

"Not while I'm around." Jake announced as he, Jordan and Gia arrived. Priest just laughed as he saw them.

"Why, don't you think you're all a little...shorthanded?" Priest asked them. "You know what happened last time."

"Trust me, we learn from our mistakes. We make plenty of them." Jake announced. Gia just face-palmed. "Um...that didn't come out right."

"Brother Bubonicus, Brother Swarm, Brother Purge, if you would be so kind." Priest declared regally to three of his followers. "I have more...enticing targets to worry about."

Three of the mutants stepped forward. One of them confronted Jordan, reering up, showing himself to be much larger than the others, towering over him. It threw its filthy robes off, and drew a pair of massive cleaver-like blades that were slick with filth and slime. It roared as it rushed towards him, sending debris flying as it barged aside obstacles in its way.

The other two were shorter, one of them hugely bloated, being almost as wide as it was tall. It pulled back its hood, reering back its head, before a deluge of foulness flew from its mouth. It struck Jake square in the chest, and knocked him off his feet. He looked down in disbelief as it drew its dagger, waddling towards him.

"Are you serious?" He screamed. "You seriously just puked on me?"

He pulled himself to his feet, and could feel the foulness burning. He knew his suit offered some protection, but that didn't mean he wanted to find out exactly how much protection it would offer before it gave up the ghost. He knew he couldn't afford to take another shot.

Gia meanwhile found herself in trouble as Swarm opened his robe, and a thick cloud of flies buzzed towards her, making it difficult to see. She could feel through her suit that the insects were trying to bite and sting her through her suit, no doubt hoping to infect her. She tumbled to the ground as her feet were swept away from under her.

Meanwhile, only just outside the hospital doors, Troy and Emma ushered soldiers and aid workers away as Priest and the remaining two Brothers approached. Troy called forth his Dragon Sword.

"Alright Priest, that's far enough!" Troy declared. "You've caused these people enough harm, you're not getting past!"

"And I suppose you think you're going to stop me?" He asked in a derisive chuckle. "Two of you against three of us? You saw what happened when you had a full team. My brothers are seeing to your weakling friends as we speak."

"I don't care if the odds are against us." Troy replied. "As long as we're still breathing, there's no way you're getting in here."

"Then I guess there's one way to rectify that then isn't there?" Priest asked as his Brotherhood charged.

Meanwhile, from a little way off, Vrak watched the battle unfolding. He of course wanted to weaken and see an end to the Rangers, but this Brotherhood troubled him greatly. He could see the power they had at their disposal, and could see that they were causing the Rangers serious problems. It was difficult to know what scared him more, the fact that they had brought the city to its knees, or the fact that it looked like they might just succeed where he had failed.

He saw Gia take a hard shot and hit the ground, de-morphing, at which the swarm of bugs surrounded her. He could tell that soon enough they would overwhelm her. Elsewhere, Purge's attacks had finally taken care of Jake's suit, meaning he was now vulnerable to the plague. It did not look promising for the Rangers.

Just as he was about to act, he saw a form of salvation though. Jordan let out a hellish yell, and a massive energy wave swept out from him. He saw the visor on his helmet turning red, and he rounded on the mutants, attaching the Vulcan Bullet to his Robo Blaster. He rushed forward, heading straight for Purge. He dodged his attack, before firing point-blank, destroying him completely with a distinctive smell of burned flesh. Swarm looked to him in horror.

"You...You destroyed Brother Purge!" He squealed. "You will pay for..."

He wasn't allowed to finish though, as the Robo Knight completely without mercy, and with no restraint whatsoever, fired off another Vulcan Blast, completely destroying Swarm and a mobile medical van behind him, showering the whole street in debris. The commotion interrupted the battle going on between Priest and Troy.

"What the...?" He stammered, unable to believe what he was seeing as Jordan walked through the flames, straight towards the remaining Brotherhood.

"You will pay for this, mark my words!" Priest snarled. "You will succumb to the agony of plague as surely as any creature! The Brotherhood will not be defeated so easily!"

With that, they scurried away, sinking down onto all fours and rushing away far too quickly for the Rangers to follow. Emma and Troy could see Gia and Jake on the ground, prone. They could see that they were already starting to look discoloured, and could hear them coughing in a frightening manner. It was clear they had been infected.

"Jordan, what was...?"

The Robo Knight didn't answer though, it just stared through him. Troy could see the visor glowing a deep red, and could feel no part of his friend in its gaze.

"Stand aside." It stated in a cold, mechanical way. Troy just did so, as he turned into his jet mode and flew off in search of the Brotherhood. Emma was already at Gia's side.

"Troy, what happened?" She asked him.

"We have to get them back to the command centre." He told her. "We need to get them to Tensou for treatment."

"But what about Jordan?" She asked him. He sighed and shook his head.

"I think Jordan's just left the building." He answered.

"So...what do we do now?" She asked him.

"I really wish I knew." He answered honestly.

From the hospital entrance, Terry pulled out his Samuraizer and dialled.


	5. Pooling Resources

In the Command Centre, Emma was sitting dejectedly in the central research area of the lab. It was quickly becoming one of the most depressing places in the world to be. Gia, Jake and Noah were now lying on beds, desperately ill, and in a suspended animation chamber a little way off, Tarantaulus was floating in a pale yellow liquid. The only thing that stopped him looking like all the jars of animals in formaldehyde that the biology teacher insisted on keeping despite her repeated objections was the cables and tubes, connecting him to computers, analysing every aspect of him in the desperate, and sometimes it seemed hopeless attempt to find a way to turn him back into a human.

She let out a deep sigh as Tensou finished his latest round of treatments, connecting new saline bags up to keep their fluids and nutrients up, giving them medication to ease their suffering and checking to see if any of the experiments he did made some form of improvement. Troy came in, seeing her still looking thoroughly miserable as she looked over her friends.

"Here." He said softly, handing her a sandwich. She just put it down on a table and ignored it. "Emma..."

"I'm not hungry Troy." She stated sadly, wiping her eyes.

"Maybe not, but we need to keep OUR strength up." Troy reminded her. "If nothing else, you're exhausted. You haven't had a moment's rest..."

"They're getting enough rest for all of us." She said as she panned her hand around the others, before heading over to the tube housing Tarantaulus. "This isn't a lab, sometimes labs actually accomplish something. We may as well call this our failure room."

"Emma..."

"Face it Troy, this situation just keeps getting worse!" She yelled at him. "Three of our friends are dying! Half the city is down with this thing! Dad's called to tell me that Mrs Moran's got it too, Jordan's gone off God knows where...and those Mutants just keep getting the better of us!"

"Emma, we're the only hope left." Troy told her. "It looks bad now..."

"I think we left bad in the rear view mirror a few miles back." She told him. "How long's it going to be before we're in here too?"

"You...you're not giving up." They heard a weak voice stating. Noah started to stir on his bed, reaching for his drip to detach it. Tensou came to his side.

"Noah, you need to..."

"Trust me; I know how lousy I feel." Noah assured them. "But I'll only feel worse if I just lie here and do nothing when I can still do something to help."

He detached the drip and got off the bed shakily to his feet.

"Noah, you can barely stand." Emma said sympathetically. "You can't possibly fight..."

"Then I won't fight." Noah assured her. "I know I'd just hold you back like this. But while my brain still works, I'm more useful in here anyway."

Noah looked between Emma and Troy. He was still sick, and he knew exactly how sick. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before he succumbed to it if a cure wasn't found, just like the rest of the city. He had been ill longer than the others, which only compounded things, but something had given him renewed focus. Emma was one of the strongest and bravest people he knew. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. To hear her even speak of giving up, giving up, to hear her so low, spurred him into action. He would do what he could for as long as he could.

"Tensou where are we with our research?" Noah asked him.

"The console I have working on it is here." Tensou told him as Noah went over. Troy just looked to Noah.

"Good work Tensou, this should help." Noah told him.

"Not enough though." Tensou grumbled. "We're still not going to get the answer quickly enough..."

"The CDC probably isn't faring much better." Noah replied as he clicked a few commands. Emma just furrowed her brows.

"You...you're downloading the data?" She asked.

"We're all working towards the same end." Noah reminded them. "Maybe we'll get there faster if we stop working individually."

He connected a cable up to Tensou, who objected strongly.

"Oh give it a rest Tensou; you've stuck enough needles into us in the last few hours." Noah reprimanded the little robot, who had been acting as a sort of mentor to his studies into new fields of science. "Besides, you don't have pain receptors, it didn't hurt."

"That still doesn't mean it isn't polite to ask first." Tensou replied. "Wait...so you're downloading all this into me?"

"Troy, take Tensou to the hospital." Noah stated. The others just looked a little stunned.

"Wait...you mean...take him out of the command centre?" Troy asked him.

"But...but...I haven't left since I helped build this place!" Tensou stammered. "I haven't been out of here in..."

"Then you're about due for some field work." Noah told him, kneeling down by the little robot, stroking its head. "You're probably the most advanced technology they'll have ever seen, your processors are way faster than anything they're likely to have."

"Aw...shucks." Tensou replied, imagining that if he did have emotions, this would be what embarrassment felt like.

"We send them our data and Tensou, then we'll have given them, and us the best chance possible." Noah continued. "It's not much, but it gives us a shot."

"But...giving them Tensou?" Emma asked.

"We can make it clear it's a loan." Troy answered, coming around to the idea. "Good thinking Noah."

"We'll be back with a cure as soon as we have it." Emma assured him. "Until then, just..take care of yourself."

"I will." Noah replied. As Emma and Troy morphed, each taking one of Tensou's hands and teleporting away, Noah stumbled back to the bed, and heaved himself onto it, re-attaching his drip. He has used pretty much all the strength he had; he just hoped it was enough.

Back at Cerberus, Eric was sitting by the couch in his office, where Louise had been set up as kind of a make-shift stretcher. Although the CDC were working hard on the victims of the plague, it was clear they were only getting worse. Louise had barely even moved in the last agonising couple of hours. Wayne came into the room.

"They've confirmed that the disease is waterborne. As long as no one drinks from the tap, it's safe to leave." He told Eric. "Some of the guys are going home to their families."

"I guess that's the thing to do." He sighed. "I've called Emma; she said she's taken Gia to a clinic."

"Gia's sick too?" Wayne asked.

"Her friends Jake and Noah too." Eric told him. He just threw a cup across the room in frustration, shattering it against a wall. Wayne could see the frustration in his face.

"Eric, I know that this is difficult." Wayne told him. "I'm just glad my daughter's still at her aunts' place. I know I'd be going out of my mind if she was sick like this."

"It nearly finished me off when Eleanor died." He told him. "It was just so infuriating. I felt so helpless. I spent my whole life facing threats to people's lives and seeing them off, but my own wife? All I could do was just sit there and watch her getting weaker and weaker until..."

His words tailed off. Wayne had been his friend for years, he knew what had happened. He had been at Eleanor's funeral.

"Now, Gia and Louise get caught up in...this?" Eric asked him. "Because of her family history, Emma gets regular check-ups to make sure...believe me, every time I pray...I have nightmares about anything..."

"Eric..."

"Is this what I have to look forward to?" Eric asked him. "Am I just going to go through life dodging bullets and getting to save everyone else while I watch everyone that matters to me get sick and die without being able to do a thing about it?"

"Eric, what happened with Eleanor was tragic, but you can't give up hope." Wayne told him. "You can't do anything for Eleanor, but what you can do is be there for the ones you have left."

Just then, Eleanor started to stir. Wayne just jerked his head in her direction.

"I'll find somewhere else to be." He told him. "Just...try and hold it together."

"I'll try." Eric replied. "Thanks Wayne."

At Harwood Central Hospital, Dana was continuing to work hard, keeping the patients comfortable, while the lab worked on a solution. Troy, Emma and Tensou teleported into the room, causing her to jump, but she just turned back to her patient.

"I could really have used that ability back in the day." She commented.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked.

"Never mind." Dana answered. "Can I help you?"

"Quite the opposite." Troy answered. "We've done some of our own research into the plague, but we're not progressing fast enough. We thought maybe if we pool our research..."

"Trust me, at this point we're willing to try just about anything." Dana assured him, hissing a little in discomfort as she moved. "So, where are your notes?"

"They're in him." Troy replied as he pushed Tensou forward. Dana just looked at him.

"Um...him?" Dana asked. "He looks like something from a Pixar fic."

"I loved Wall-E." Tensou replied. "What? I keep up; part of my duties is to know what's going on in the world."

"He's kind of our...tech expert." Emma explained. "He's got all our data on the plague in his data bank, and his technology is pretty impressive..."

"Well, I did say we'd try anything." Dana said gratefully, looking to the little robot. "So, what do we call you?"

"Tensou." He answered. "So, which way to your research area?"

"This way." Dana replied, limping away. "I'm Dana by the way, Dana Mitchell."

"Um...Dr Mitchell?" Troy asked, noting her limp. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live." She informed them. "One of those things came back for the bodies of its comrades. We fought, but it got away with them."

"You...you fought them?" Emma asked. Dana just shrugged.

"It's a military unit out front, they tried." She told them. "I got caught up in it, but I'll be fine. In the end, we just let him take what he wanted and go."

"That's probably for the best." Troy answered. "The last thing we need is to let one of those things run rampant in here."

"I'll get to work here." Dana told them. "Come on Tensou. Let's get working on that cure."

"Think this'll work?" Emma asked Troy.

"I guess we can only hope." He said with a shrug. "In the meantime, we just have the small matter of four more mutants to deal with."

"Perhaps we can be of some help there." They heard a familiar voice say. They turned around, finding Lauren standing behind them with five others. She just smiled as Troy approached. "You've been doing well, but everyone needs reinforcements once in a while. Now...is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

"Gosei, eight to teleport." Troy said into his morpher. With that, they all disappeared.

Arriving in the command centre, they all started to look around in awe.

"Wow, check this place out!" Antonio said in a childishly gleeful tone. "Do you have any idea what I could do with this set-up?"

"Antonio, how about we focus on the task at hand." Kevin asked him dryly. "Alright, I guess we should introduce ourselves. We're the Samurai Rangers. You've already met Lauren..."

"Um...the Samurai Rangers?" Emma asked. "You don't look much like the team I remember...for a start, there were seven!"

"Uh...yeah, our team's a little different." Lauren explained. "You see, it's tied to the Samurai noble families, only members of the families can take on our power. The Black Ranger had to retire because of injury after the last battle. And his daughter's about six months old. Even we don't recruit that young."

"Well...what about him?" Emma asked, pointing at Terri, who was wearing a pink T-shirt. "I'm pretty darn sure the Pink Ranger was a girl."

"Yeah, my sister was the original Pink Ranger." Terri answered. "But I'm kind of having to pull an Emily and sub in. Thanks to Kevin here, she's pregnant and out of action for the next few months."

"Pull an Emily?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I'm Emily." The smallest of them answered, putting up her hand. "My big sister was meant to be the Yellow Ranger, but I ended up taking her place because she was too sick to do it."

"OK, whatever, as fascinating as all this is, I think we can leave the explanations until later." Troy replied with a smile. "We have a team of Samurai waiting to help us, and that's good enough for me."

"Then it's settled." Lauren said with a grin. "Right, what's the situation?"

"Um...somewhere between bad and hopeless." Emma said honestly. "Three of our guys are down, and the other...well...even we don't know where he is."

"Bad and hopeless. Sounds familiar." Antonio replied. "So what are we waiting for, tell us what we're up against."

Meanwhile, in an area of the woods far from town, Priest and his Brothers awaited the return of Bubonicus. He had been sent on an important mission. Standing on a hastily constructed shrine, flanked by burning torches, Priest was muttering some chants to himself.

"He returns at last." One of the other Brothers stated as Bubonicus returned, carrying the remains of Purge and Swarm. Bubonicus' robes were covered in scorches and filled with holes indicating he had run into a battle. The creature itself seemed largely unfazed though. Its nerve endings were so diseased that they felt barely anything. He came to the shrine and laid the bodies down gently, almost lovingly, like it was cradling a baby. Bubonicus had his head bowed as Priest came to him, stroking his head with his bony hand.

"You have done well my brother." He said soothingly. "I know how it weighs heavily on our hearts to lose our brothers. Still, our strength is in our faith and our conviction. You have proven your devotion my brother."

Bubonicus stepped back, and knelt with his remaining brothers. Priest looked down on the bodies reverently.

"Our brothers Purge and Swarm devoted their lives to the glory of sickness." He began his speech. "And as such, they will live on in the everlasting cycle of natural order."

He looked to the assembled brothers.

"For sickness is but the means by which that which belongs to the Earth returns to it, once again becoming one with all that is." He continued. He reached down, and with his taloned hand, ripped off a chunk of flesh from Purge's remains. "And by returning to the whole, strengthens those that remain. Amen!"

With that, he ate the chunk of meat in his hand. As The Brotherhood returned the greeting, they completed the ceremony by falling upon their fallen brothers, devouring them.

Back at Central Harwood Hospital, Dana and Tensou were in the lab with some of the other techs. One of them, a military lab worker, just looked to Tensou in suspicion.

"You really think this glorified toaster can help us?" He asked.

"Hey, the Rangers believe in him." Dana reminded him. "Besides, it's not like your guys are making the progress we need."

"We are making progress..."

"By the time you find the cure, about ninety percent of the patients will already be dead." Dana snapped at him.

"Ninety two point four to be exact." Tensou interrupted. "And a further two point eight percent will already be at an incubation point beyond being able to be saved."

"It heard us?" He asked.

"I am a robot, I have excellent hearing!" Tensou reminded him, continuing to work with their system. "It's more primitive than I'm used to, but your system here is a lot better than I'd have thought."

"Angela Fairweather, our tech genius is the top of her field..."

"By Earth standards I'm sure she is." Tensou replied. "In fact, I've had to correct very few of your equations...though your work has also shown some shortcomings in mine."

"Tensou, don't mind him, if you're making progress..."

"Progress?" He asked, disconnecting from the mainframe. "I believe the phrase is Eureka!"

"You've got it?" Dana asked him, looking to the monitor.

"My internal virtual tests have all confirmed the results." Tensou told her. "A couple of practical tests before human testing would be advisable..."

"Some of my patients don't have that much time." Dana replied, printing out the treatment that Tensou had just finished creating. "Take that down to the pharmaceutical guys, tell them to make as much of this as they possibly can. You, start telling the staff how to administer the treatment. As soon as a vial's ready, I want it in the most advanced case. You, get onto the general and arrange for distribution to the other quarantine sites and send out instructions on every TV channel and radio broadcast to tell people where they can go to arrange distribution."

She turned to Tensou, and knelt down, kissing the top of his head.

"I know Angela would just love to meet you." She told him. "Good work Tensou."

"Let's not celebrate just yet." He reminded her. "We've still got a lot of work to do."

In another part of the city, on top of the highest tower, the Robo Knight stood watch, scanning the city on Sentry Mode, awaiting the first signs of the mutants' return. Standing, unmoving, it surveyed all around it. The Brotherhood had destroyed everything they had faced so far, and he would ensure their end, regardless of the cost.


	6. Signs of Recovery

In the Command Centre, the Samurai and the remaining Megaforce Rangers, Emma and Troy, were waiting for news. This was the worst part, the waiting. Until they got news from the hospital, or The Brotherhood returned to the city, there really was nothing any of them could do.

Emma found Terry in the side room of the lab, checking on her stricken friends. She didn't really know him, but having seen him at the hospital, dressed in scrubs the last time she had been there, she presumed he had a medical background of some description. The way he was acting, looking up the scans, checking their treatments and such like, all seemed to confirm that.

"Is there any change?" Emma asked him. He just shook his head.

"They're stable and they're resting." He told her. "They're not getting any worse though, so that's good news. The fact they're all young and healthy really helps their chances."

He saw the way Emma looked as she took a seat. He had seen that look a lot around the Shiba House back in the day. He just looked to her sadly.

"I know it sucks." He told her. "You spend all this time fighting, and then something like this comes along, and there's not much you can do to help."

"Those mutants have sunk to a new low." She muttered.

"Hey, you should have seen some of the schemes Xandred and his cronies used to come up with." He assured her. "It seemed like every other day someone was getting sick or poisoned...the guys ended up with super powers once."

"Um...what?" Emma asked. "He gave you MORE powers?"

"Trust me; it wasn't as fun as it sounds." Terry chuckled at the memory. "Emily spent enough time wrecking the house without running around at mach 3."

"Wow." Emma remarked. "With all the insane stuff that happens, I guess sometimes I forget that others have been through all this."

"It's funny how comforting it is to know that." Terry answered. He gestured to Tarantaulus in his isolation chamber in the corner. "So...uh...what's the story with that?"

"He used to be a human." Emma informed him. "We're hoping we can find a way to change him back."

"There was a guy kind of like that who went after our team." Terry told her. "He was cursed by another Nighlock. My fiancée, Serena, broke the curse."

Just then, one of the consoles burst into life. Terry ran to the screen with Emma.

"Tensou!" She called out.

"We've got a working version of the treatment." He told her. "I'm sending instructions on how to hook it up now!"

"I'll set it up." Terry replied as a number of vials of the treatment appeared on the console. He picked them up, and checked the instructions on how to administer the treatment. Emma looked to Tensou in the screen and smiled.

"I could kiss you right now!" She told him. "We all could!"

"Aw...it's nice being popular." He told her. "If you hook it up, you should start to see improvements in..."

Just then, the alarms sounded. Emma just looked to Terry as he continued to work.

"I'm almost finished here." He assured her. "I'll be through in a second."

Emma nodded and headed through to the main room, where the others all assembled around the main viewing screen. She arrived by Troy's side.

"OK, it looks like the Brotherhood's back." Troy told the others. "That's not all. Although there are only four of them now, the scans show that their power levels have actually...increased."

"Increased?" Lauren asked him. "How?"

"I guess Vrak decided to get in on the act with this one after all." Emma surmised.

"Well, this time we're ready for them." Kevin announced. "Let's do this!"

"Go Go Megaforce!" Troy and Emma announced, slamming their power cards into their morphers. Mike just looked to them judgementally.

"He, get your own morphing call!" He teased them.

"Go Go Samurai!" They chorused as they activated their Samuraizers. Antonio just smirked.

"I guess sometimes you're the only original one in the room." He commented. "Samurai Ranger, Gold Power!"

In the city, over at the offices of Cerberus, the CDC finally arrived with the treatment. As they arrived, they were greeted at the door by Wayne.

"Alright, show us to the patients." One of the doctors announced.

"They're all on the top floor." Wayne told him. "We've been using the offices up there as a clinic."

"Right, show us up there." He announced, gesturing his team up. "How long has it been since the first case was reported?"

"Just over a day." Wayne informed her. "Come, the elevator's this way."

As they got to the top floor, the teams started to file out, carrying large refrigerated containers of the serum. Wayne grabbed the main doctor and dragged him in the direction of Eric's office. He found him with Louise, comforting her as much as he could.

"This is the first patient." He told him. "She was the first to collapse."

"Move aside please." The doctor instructed Eric. "How is she?"

"She's been getting weaker." Eric told him.

"If we'd been much longer it might have been too late." The doctor told him, starting to set up the drip. Eric just looked to him.

"Will this...?"

"It's pretty much up to her now." The doctor told him. "Now please Mr Goodall, just let me work."

"Give him room." Wayne said quietly, guiding Eric away. He knew that Eric had to be having some very unpleasant memories of what had happened to Eleanor. With all the wires and tubes, it had to look pretty familiar. Wayne sat with him, as he watched the doctor work. For the first time in a long time, Eric prayed.

In another part of the city, the Brotherhood arrived, just as a shipment of bottled water arrived. The military was struggling with the demand to keep a steady supply of untainted water coming into the city until they could purify the reservoir. Priest brought his brothers here, knowing that this was one of the reasons their plague hadn't gone further than it already had. Seeing the trucks, protected by the military, Priest smiled.

"Rejoice, for I have come with the blessing of glorious infection!" Priest called out. The soldiers had orders to protect the water, but they all looked terrified standing before the Brotherhood. The main concern was that desperate citizens would get out of hand, trying to take more than their fair ration. They weren't at all prepared for this. They levelled their rifles in their direction.

"Stand down!" The ranking officer stated with as much confidence as he could muster. "We will..."

"Now, do you really think you with your pitiful weapons and lack of faith could possibly stand against us?" He asked them. As they started to advance, the soldiers prepared to open fire. The sergeant felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked around, seeing the Red Megaforce Ranger.

"Leave this to us." He told him. "Protect the water."

As the Rangers stepped forward, Priest looked to the group of assembled Rangers. He looked almost confused.

"That's right, there's more than one Ranger team out there." Lauren declared.

"Take down one Ranger, there'll always be someone else willing to fight." Mike added, throwing his sword over his shoulders in a cocky manner. "And if you think we're letting you hurt anyone else, you've obviously never come across a Samurai."

"So, you called in some help. That shouldn't be a problem." Priest replied confidently. He threw his arms wide. "Brother Bubonicus, Brother Waste, Brother Wart, clear my way!"

The other three members of the Brotherhood rushed forward, casting off their robes. They all recognised Brother Bubonicus, the largest and physically strongest of the mutants. He drew huge, filthy swords which he swung with deadly intent. The second was only just shorter than him, but looked very skinny and emaciated, with his ribcage showing through his skin. He moved unnaturally quickly, even for his fellow Brothers. The last looked like a complete nightmare, his body covered in sickening warts and sores, some of which were leaking fluids it was best not to think about.

"OK, this looks like my dance partner." Mike stated as he avoided a blow from Bubonicus. "Kevin, can I get a hand here?"

"Hey Emma, can we join in?" Emily asked as Waste, the badly emaciated rat creature launched itself at her. Emma parried its first blow, staggering a little.

"Never let it be said, I'm too stubborn to accept help!" She answered as they joined the fight.

"I'll take that one." Troy told her, confronting Wart. "I've got ranged weaponry. Something tells me touching this guy when he's...leaking like that isn't a good idea."

"I guess that just leaves us then." Lauren replied, levelling her Spin Sword at Priest. "It wouldn't be the first time I had to take care of a rodent problem."

"Let us see what this Ranger team has to offer." He answered, drawing his sword. "I have a feeling you will be an interesting challenge."

On top of the tallest tower in the city, the Robo Knight was standing on Sentry Mode. His head turned as an explosion rang out from the city, a few blocks from where they were standing. His visor started to glow bright red, and he ran, leaping off the tower, turning into his flight mode, blasting towards the battle in progress.

Back at the Cerberus offices, Louise started to stir, and blinked her eyes. Her vision started to come into focus, at which she saw Eric kneeling by the side of the couch, holding her hand. She smiled as she looked up to him.

"Hey, you...you're awake." He greeted her. "Wayne, get the doctor...tell him she's awake."

As he left, she looked to Eric, who seemed to look overjoyed to see her. She reached up to his face.

"You stayed with me?" She asked him. He just nodded.

"There's nowhere else I'd be." He assured her. "Louise, I just wanted to make sure you were..."

"Eric, um...I wasn't unconscious the whole time." She told him. Eric just looked at her a little blankly. "I mean, I was really out of it, I couldn't do much, but...I wasn't always unconscious."

"I don't und..." He started to say, before a thought hit him. He had pretty much assumed that she couldn't hear anything because she wasn't responsive. He looked to her and looked a little uncomfortable. "Um...what...what exactly did you hear?"

"I heard enough." She admitted, stroking his face.

"Louise, I'm sorry..."

"Eric, what are you sorry for?" She asked him with a smile.

"Look, I know we both agreed that night was...I know we promised that it was just that."

"Eric, I think both of us know that was wishful thinking." Louise replied. "Do you really think anything would have happened if I didn't want it to?"

"I don't understand." He said as she looked to him.

"Things between Gerald and I weren't working for a lot longer than I wanted to admit." She told him sadly. "Saying it was a mistake, saying it happened because we were drunk and upset about Eleanor...that was all just an excuse. If things between me and Gerald were going right, it would never have happened."

"So...what are you saying?" He asked her.

"I was trying to make it work for Gia's sake." She told him. "If I'm honest, our marriage was over in all but name long before that happened."

"Louise, are you saying...?"

"I'm saying that you and I have something Eric." She told him with a weak smile, squeezing his hand. "And now, hearing what you had to say, I'm saying, maybe there's a reason it was always you I turned to in the difficult times. Maybe there's a reason it was always you I asked for help."

He just looked at her as she nodded. He started to lean in, his lips coming close to hers, before they heard something outside. With a huge blast of jets, a shape blurred past the windows, the sonic boom shattering the glass and raining it in on them. Eric covered her as best he could. As he got up, he looked out.

"What the hell?" He asked. Louise just started laughing. "What?"

"We always did have priceless timing didn't we?" She remarked. Eric just started laughing too.

"I guess we always did." He agreed. Just then, the doctor arrived and looked around, stunned.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Eric asked, moving away from Louise. "You have a patient."

As the doctor reluctantly went to her side to treat her, Eric just watched on, his heart beating a little faster. He was relieved that Louise was on the mend. It meant that they finally had a chance to admit what they meant to each other. He doubted it would be easy, he had never been in a relationship since he had lost Eleanor, but if there was one thing he always knew, it was that all he could do was take things as they came and hope they worked out for the best.

Back at the site of the battle, Emma kept Waste pinned down, while Terry and Emily flanked him, looking for an opening.

As he parried a blow from Terry, Emily managed to strike a telling blow across his chest. As he tumbled backwards, she and Terry grabbed his arms, holding him open.

"Emma, NOW!" Emily yelled. Emma powered up her Phoenix Shot to full power and launched a shot, which tore through him, spraying both Terry and Emily as he fell lifelessly to the ground. Emily just looked down at herself in disgust, wiping some gunk off her visor.

"Ew gross!" She complained loudly. "What gives? Normally the bad guys explode!"

"Um...yeah, I should have warned you, our mutants can be a little messy." Emma answered. Just then, Kevin flew into the side of a building, splintering concrete.

"Hey, if you guys wouldn't mind, the rest of us still have a fight on our hands!" He complained. Emily ran off to join Mike with Kevin, while Emma looked to where Troy was fighting Wart, and could see he had the upper hand.

"Let's help Lauren." Emma told him. "Priest seems like the biggest..."

Just then, they all heard jets. Looking up, they saw a shape in the sky coming towards them, coming fast...with no sign of stopping!

"Shit, hit the deck!" Terry called out, at which, they all dived aside, the Robo Knight blurred into the ground, throwing up concrete and dust in all directions. Car alarms were sent off, and the soldiers scattered for cover. The Robo Knight got to his feet before them, and drew his Vulcan Blaster, aiming it right for Wart, who was staggering, dazed and confused. Troy saw him aiming, and realised to his horror that the water truck was right behind him!

"No!" Troy called out, but it was too late. He fired off his shot, obliterating Wart's skull, but just as he had envisioned, blowing apart the water truck. Only Kevin's quick thinking, and the good fortune that he had his Samuraizer to hand stopped it being a complete disaster. Casting a symbol as water sprayed everywhere; he managed to control it, turning it into a huge, spinning sphere of water, and raising it high into the air out of harms' way.

"What the hell?" Mike screamed. "I thought he was on your side!"

Priest just took the advantage afforded to him by the distraction. He could see that the tide was turning against him. He snatched up the corpse of Wart, before turning to Bubonicus, who was embroiled in a savage brawl with the Robo Knight.

"Bubonicus, there will be another time!" Priest declared. "Take our brother!"

Bubonicus turned, ignoring the Robo Knight's blow, which sent a sickening crunch through the air, as he took up Waste and hobbled off after Priest. Robo Knight was about to go after him, when Troy stood in his way.

"Leave them!" Troy stated.

"They are..."

"If we don't save that water, there won't BE a city to save!" Troy snapped at the Robo Knight. "Now help us!"

Kevin was already on his knees, pouring every ounce of symbol power he had into keeping the ball of water in the air. Emily used her Earth Power to bring up kind of a huge bowl of earth through the street.

"We need to line it!" Antonio stated, looking around for ideas. Seeing the ruined truck, and the vast amount of sheet steel, he got an idea. "Get as much of that metal in here as we can!"

The remaining Rangers quickly got to work, placing the metal around the inside of the bowl. Lauren used her Samuraizer to heat it, fusing the metal.

"Kevin, how are you holding up?" Antonio asked.

"Just hurry up!" Kevin grunted as he struggled to keep his concentration.

"Terry, cool it off!" Antonio called out. Terry called up a huge gust of icy wind that quickly cooled the steel, forming a perfectly sealed bowl for the water.

"Alright Kevin, set it down!" Antonio told him. Kevin gratefully lowered the water, letting it drop at the last second as his strength finally gave up. They lost some of the water to overflow, but they had saved most of it. The Rangers all turned in time to see the Robo Knight blasting off again, presumably in search of The Brotherhood.

"What the hell is with that guy?" Mike protested.

"It's not like we always have perfect control over our toys Mike." Emily reminded her husband. "You do remember the Bull Zord right?"

"We should head back to the Command Centre." Troy suggested. "The military can handle it from here. Plus, I doubt they'll be too happy to see us hanging around."

With that, they all teleported out of the street as the soldiers came back to deal with the aftermath.

Over at the old Chemical Plant, Bluefur got word back from the latest battle by way of Vrak. He was almost gleeful as he relayed the news of their latest battle.

"So much for your almighty Brotherhood." Vrak taunted him.

"Still, they have accomplished more than anything you have ever managed to." Bluefur reminded him. "Perhaps it is time for you to support their endeavours. I am sure you have some form of technology that you have been waiting to use..."

"Ah but..."

"You are sincere in your desire to help us are you not?" Bluefur asked him. "And since we have already advanced your cause this far..."

"I shall return to the ship and look." Bluefur replied, bowing as he left. "Tell Priest not to die in the meantime."

At that moment, back at his shrine, Priest arrived, placing down the corpse of Wart, while Bubonicus laid down Waste. Bubonicus knelt before him, but his breathing was extremely laboured, and his movements were far from what they should be. Priest looked to him.

"The Robo Knight has caused us further tragedy, but you know that our creed tells us, it is only infection that will prevail." Bubonicus just nodded. Priest reached forward, checking his injuries and looked to him sadly. "I am afraid my brother, you know what I am about to say. Your injuries are mortal. You will not recover to return to our cause.

Bubonicus let out a sad little sound as he looked down. Priest just stroked his head.

"Do not feel sorrow my Brother, you know that there is a way that you can still serve our sacred duty."

Bubonicus smiled and lifted his head, exposing his throat.

"Thank you Father." Bubonicus stated as Priest reared up, before sinking his teeth into his neck.


	7. Samurai Megaforce

Back at the Command Centre, the Rangers arrived to find couches waiting, and a table set out with refreshments. Bottles of water, fruit, sandwiches, and some chips were waiting for them after their battle.

"Tensou?" Troy called out. He didn't get an answer though. He just shrugged as he grabbed himself a banana and started to peel it. "I guess he's still at the hospital."

"Knowing him, he's probably still working to make sure they get all the serum they need." Emma answered, joining him on the couch with a bottle of water. Kevin flopped down on a couch, lying flat out. After his extensive use of symbol power to save the precious water from Robo Knight's careless attack, he was pretty much dead on his feet. He embraced the one of the cushions like an old friend.

"I'm so wiped." Kevin grumbled as Terry fetched him a sandwich from the refreshments table. "That was a lot more Symbol Power than I've used in a long time."

"Yeah, and because we were so busy saving that water, that Priest guy got away." Mike interjected as he and Emily sat on another couch just across from them.

"Let it go Mike." Lauren told him as she leant against a wall, sipping some water. "We didn't always cover ourselves in glory in battle. Sometimes mistakes happen."

"It doesn't matter if you make mistakes." Troy said sagely. "What matters is if you rectify them."

The Samurai all looked at each other, and then back to Troy.

"Wow, you sound so much like Ji." Mike remarked, shuddering a little. "I think I just got flashbacks."

"You do sound a lot like our mentor." Kevin agreed. "Trust me, it's a compliment."

"OK, so what we know is that two more of the mutants are down." Lauren stated, going to a display. "What we also know is that after they came back from their first defeat, their power readings were much higher."

"They definitely seemed a lot stronger." Troy agreed. "That Wart guy had me pretty much on the ropes."

"It took three of us to take down Waste." Terry reminded them.

"Bubonicus was playing ping pong with our heads until Emily helped out." Mike admitted.

"And he still got away." Emily said sadly.

"Still, two is a lot better odds than four." Terry said with a shrug.

"Not necessarily." Lauren chipped in. "After they lost Purge and Swarm, their powers all increased, so it seems like they've somehow found a way to condense their powers whenever one of them falls..."

"So what you're saying is when Priest and Bubonicus come back, they'll only be stronger." Kevin surmised. Lauren just nodded.

"It looks that way." She replied.

"Well, that's comforting." Emily added. "And what is with those things anyway? All of our bad guys blew up. That thing...it was...ew...it was all over me."

"Emily, you spent most of your life on a farm dodging poop." Mike teased her. "It wasn't that bad."

"Yeah, it's one of the things we're not too fond of with the mutants." Emma replied sadly. This was one of the things that still troubled her about facing the mutants. "Those things...the mutants...they aren't really monsters, they're more kind of an accident. They used to be normal animals."

"They lived up near the old chemical plant." Troy informed them. "The chemicals in the earth and the water up there included mutagens..."

"So those things were really rats at one time?" Lauren asked, looking a little surprised.

"Yeah, they were." Troy answered. "That's why they don't explode."

"OK, so that still doesn't change the fact we need to take those things down." Lauren answered. "Priest was really doing a number on me in our last fight. If that Robo Knight hadn't shown up and distracted him..."

"Don't get me started on the Robo Knight." Kevin grumbled. "If it wasn't for him, we could have gone after them..."

"Look, there's no use in worrying about what ifs." Terry put down flatly. "All we can do is make sure we're ready for when they come back. There are still eight of us..."

"Eleven." They heard someone correcting them. Just then, Gia, Noah and Jake came into the room slowly. They all still looked a little wobbly on their feet, but they were all up. Emma and Troy got to their feet, making their way over.

"Guys, you're up!" Emma shrieked excitedly, hugging Gia tightly, before moving to Jake. "You're better!"

"Well, who do you think got these refreshments together?" Jake asked them, gesturing to the room. "Tensou's still out, and it's not like Gosei's got hands...at least...I don't think he has.

"Guys, you shouldn't..."

"The treatment's working." Gia assured them. "We want to help."

"Guys, we appreciate it, but you need rest." Troy reiterated. "You're still..."

"If Priest wins, then he's just going to re-infect everyone anyway." Noah interrupted him. "We all feel a lot better. We'd rather make sure he's gone."

"Trust me; I don't want Priest to make anyone else feel like this." Jake assured him. "If there's anything we can do..."

"You can barely stand." Emma said in a concerned tone as she saw Noah wobbling slightly. "You'll get hurt!"

"If Priest wins, none of that's going to matter." Jake reminded her. "We'll...I don't know...take a Red Bull or something. Just...we need to do something."

"If you guys are serious, I think I might be able to recommend something." Terry added. He stood up. "The more help we can get, the better right?"

"We're not letting you do this alone." Gia told Emma bluntly. "So what do you say?"

"I guess...we don't have much of a choice then." Troy answered. "Terry, see what you can do. We'll keep watch for The Brotherhood."

"In the meantime, everyone rest up." Lauren concluded, rubbing he badly bruised shoulder. "I can confirm, Priest doesn't pull any punches."

In the Chemical Plant, Bluefur was waiting on his throne, with Biggs by his side. Vrak had returned, bringing his new creation with him. On Bluefur's orders, he had gone to the ship to create something to assist Priest in his endeavours. Before long, the doors flew open, and they saw a robed figure walking in. Vrak had to strain to see in the low light. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"Priest?" He asked in a hushed tone as the figure bowed to Bluefur. It was clearly still Priest, his white, filthy fur, the same missing eye, the same dark, leathery flesh, but now he was much larger, significantly so, and the way all the other mutants backed off, it was clear his power had increased to an unbelievable extent. Vrak felt a little quake of disgust and fear as he got too close for comfort.

"You wished to see me my lord?" Priest asked him. Bluefur just smiled.

"Your power..."

"My brothers' sacrifice has not been in vain!" Priest declared. "I now wield power far beyond what the Rangers can possibly understand."

"Well, I have been impressed with your work; you have brought this city to heel like no other before you." Bluefur told him, gesturing to Vrak. "I have to wonder what you could have accomplished with some support from our allies, so I have asked Vrak to supply you with a little something."

"Really?" Priest asked, turning to Vrak, gazing on him with his one remaining eye, his mouth curling up into a sickening smirk. "If I remember correctly, you were not impressed by my Brotherhood."

"Here is my latest creation." Vrak replied in an exasperated tone, ignoring his remark. He pulled a sheet off it, presenting it to the mutant, who looked on in awe.

"This will increase your strength, and make you virtually indestructible. I also have a number of powerful weapons..."

"These weapons are impressive." Priest said with a smile. "Though I believe you will need to make some...adjustments."

"Yes, I wasn't quite prepared for your...growth spurt." Vrak admitted. "Just give me a little time to make my adjustments."

"In the meantime, we understand that without your Brothers, you may be outnumbered." Bluefur told him. "So next time, we'll send you with some backup. I'm sure Vrak would not mind sparing a few dozen of his Loogies."

Vrak just clenched his teeth in frustration as he heard this. Priest had indeed accomplished a lot in his time, and now his success threatened to relegate Vrak's importance to merely providing him with tools and cannon fodder. However, he knew he couldn't afford to refuse, unless the mutant turned on him.

"Of course." Vrak answered. "Anything to help the cause."

Back at the Command Centre, as the team were relaxing, preparing for the upcoming battle, Emma saw Noah in the corner, talking to Antonio, showing him some of their tech. Antonio was as much of a science nerd as Noah, but clearly he'd never had access to the same level of technology. He was completely in awe of the Command Centre.

She looked to Troy, who was in the corner comparing notes with Lauren, and took a deep breath, before heading over to where Noah and Antonio were talking. Antonio marvelled at one of the computers.

"If you think that's impressive, you really need to talk to Tensou." Noah concluded. "He is easily the coolest..."

"Hey, um...mind if I have a word with Noah?" She asked. Antonio just looked between the two and nodded, before leaving.

"Remember, you're going to have to download a copy of that program for me amigo." Antonio said cheerfully, heading away. Emma just gestured Noah to the side room. Noah followed her, at which she closed the door behind them. She felt slightly ill looking at him, knowing all he had done for her, and knowing all the pain she had caused, albeit without really intending to or knowing. She took another deep breath.

"Noah, you really scared me the way you got sick like that." Emma told him.

"You were scared?" He asked with a small chuckle. "Believe me, I was pretty..."

"Noah, I...I know." She told him. Noah just looked a little embarrassed. He had hoped that he would avoid this.

"Emma..."

"Listen Noah, I don't...I..." She had to try hard to find what she wanted to say. She just took his hand gently. "Look, I'm honoured you think of me that way. It's just...that's how I feel about Troy."

"I get that Emma." Noah told her. "God knows...I get that. It might suck, but I know that Troy makes you happy."

"But I'm not happy Noah, not when you're not." Emma told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry that I don't feel the same way about you, but that's something I can't help. But it really upsets me the way things have changed between us."

"I don't..."

"Noah, the way you keep your distance, the way we don't talk like we used to. It really upsets me." She said to him sadly. "It feels like I've lost one of my best friends, and that really doesn't feel good."

He could see how upset she was, and he regretted his actions.

"I'm sorry; I thought...I thought that I was doing the right thing." He told her. "It turns out I was just doing the easy thing. I was trying to make things easier for me. I didn't think how you felt."

As they sat beside each other on a console, he just sighed.

"So, what now?" He asked. "I mean, I think I kind of screwed up the friends thing."

"Well, Gia thought so too, but look at us now." Emma reminded him. "I'm not saying things will be the same, but who knows? Maybe they can even be better? We just have to work on having a new friendship."

"A new friendship?" He asked her.

"Yeah, like, one with a better understanding. Noah and Emma 2.0." She suggested. "Maybe a friendship where I don't spend half my time arguing with you about how man's pursuit of technology and science is destroying nature."

"And one where I don't spend time arguing with you about how science is the way forward and conservation is curtailing our pursuit of the answers to the big questions." He suggested. They both looked at each other, before smiling.

"Nah!" They answered together, shaking their heads and laughing. They knew things would change, but they didn't have to change that much. Their differences were just part of them, and it was part of the reason they worked as friends. They didn't have to agree on EVERYTHING. Emma put her arm around him and looked to him.

"I really am sorry things couldn't be different." She said honestly. "You're a pretty great guy. Any girl would be lucky to end up with you."

"Yeah, I think I might be swearing off girls for a little while." He replied in a little chuckle. "At least until I sort out my cash flow problem. I doubt many girls would be impressed with a date on tap water."

"It might be an idea." Emma agreed. "So, are we good?"

"Maybe soon." He answered honestly. She just nodded in understanding.

"I guess I can live with that." She said with a smile, at last feeling like she was getting her friend back. If there was one thing the whole plague had done for them, it was showing them what was important. She'd had a second chance, and she was glad she took it.

Out in the main room, Gia was resting up when she saw Emily getting a message on her phone. She squealed in excitement and waved Mike and Terry over.

"Mike, Terry come quick!" She rushed out, showing them her phone. "Serena's just had her scan!"

"She has?" Terry asked, looking a little concerned. "What did the doctors say? How is she?"

"She says she's fine." Emily told him. "But she asked me to remind you if you don't bring her a bucket of ice cream the size of an oil drum, the engagement's off."

"Your fiancée's pregnant?" Gia asked, overhearing this. They just looked over.

"Yeah, it really sucked having to leave her." Terry replied. "Well Mike, here you go, there's your baby."

"Aw man, that...that's just so awesome!" Mike said with a massive grin crossing his face, looking at the pictures of the scan on Emily's phone. "That...that's the head?"

"Of course that's the head Mike." Emily giggled, looking at the picture.

"Wait...your baby?" Gia asked, looking to them. Mike looked up and nodded. Gia then looked to Terry and pointed to him. "So...YOUR fiancée is having HIS baby?"

Mike, Terry and Emily all looked to each other, and their wicked sense of humour took over. They had to admit that from what Gia had heard, it did sound pretty odd. What she didn't know was that Emily, because of a terrible illness shortly after her Ranger days, had been left unable to have children. Because Symbol Power was carried in the bloodline, and Mike was an only child, Serena had offered to act as a surrogate for Mike and Emily so that there was at least some chance of a child inheriting the Forest Symbol Power. Of course, the whole set-up made sense to them, but to someone like Gia who was only hearing part of the story..."

"Yeah, Serena's having his baby." Terry informed her, patting Mike on the shoulder. "It kind of makes us family."

"And...You're OK with that?" Gia asked.

"Hey, she's my sister." Emily informed her. Gia just shook her head in disbelief and got off the couch, heading to another part of the room.

"And I thought my family was screwed up." She muttered under her breath. As she went, the three laughed.

"Think we should tell her?" Mike asked.

"We will eventually." Emily added, taking back her phone. "In the meantime, let me see my baby."

With that, she looked at the pictures, starting to coo over the baby that one day would be given to her and her husband. She couldn't wait to begin her family with him. Just then, the alarms went off. Emily pouted as she put her phone away, and they all assembled before the viewing screen.

"It looks like the bad guys here have the same sense of timing the Nighlock had." Mike said in an impatient tone, hating being dragged away from the scan.

"You have no idea." Noah assured him.

"Alright guys, this is it." Troy concluded. "Now, if there are no objections to a shared morphing call..."

The Megaforce team all glared at Mike, who just shrugged.

"What?" He asked. "I was just sayin', it's kind of lame that you don't have your own morphing call."

"At least no one on our team's a cross-dresser." Jake shot back. "Your Pink Rangers' a dude!"

As he and Noah laughed, Terry just gave them a little knowing smirk.

"OK, you'll pay for that." He assured them.

"Alright, time to get serious." Troy chastised them as they prepared.

"Go Go Megaforce!" They all chorused, slamming their Power Cards into their morphers.

"Go Go Samurai!" The Samurai added, activating their Samuraizers. Antonio shook his head and laughed.

"Still unique." He commented. "Samurai Ranger, Gold Power!"


	8. Lord of Pestilence

Harwood Mall, the epicentre of the entire social scene in the city had seen its fair share of eventful days. There was the time a huge power outage left all the electrics in the story non-operational, including the doors, meaning that many shoppers were trapped inside for several hours. There was the time that the pop star Kira Ford turned up for the release of her second album, only to find out that the Rock Porium had only received half their expected delivery, meaning they were woefully under stocked and sold out within moments of the door opening. The crowd got so over-excited that things almost spilled over into a full-blown riot until she agreed to do an impromptu concert to keep them from tearing the mall apart. There were even some exciting events, such as the Flash Mob that had turned up when Gangnam Style was the biggest tune on the internet. A young couple had even gotten married there on New Year's Day, an event covered on the local news.

In all those times though, the people had never come together quite like this. Because of the plague, those that were healthy sought refuge wherever they could. In times of crisis, the people of Harwood found comfort in numbers just the same as they did anywhere else, and over the last few months, there had been plenty of those. The plague in particular had caused such panic, that people were going anywhere they could gather in large numbers.

Cat went up to Ernie's apartment as Theo and Luen finally allowed her to take a break. The heat wave had been bad enough, but now with the plague on top of that, with people seeking anywhere the food and drink had come in from out of town, and so could be guaranteed as safe, she was pretty much on shift constantly, having already logged about 20 hours across the last two days. Ernie was sitting on the couch, watching the TV. He was still too badly injured to return to work. Cat dropped in on him once in a while to check on him, and spent her breaks up there too. He appreciated the attention.

"You know, you look so exhausted, you almost look worse off than I do." Ernie commented, noting her bedraggled appearance. He handed her some bottled water.

"I'm just tired." She sighed, taking a sip. Ernie just continued to look at her, unconvinced. She finally just relented, and looked to him. "I can't get a hold of Gia on her cell phone. It's not like her not to answer."

"I'm sure she's just busy." Ernie tried to reassure her, reaching across and patting her shoulder. He actually knew the Rangers' identities, having figured it out only shortly after the invasion had begun. He had opted to feign ignorance, and instead help out the team where he could, by making their lives outside of their duties a little easier. A little extra food on the house here, a favour there, but most importantly, just giving them a safe space where they could just relax and be teenagers. Little did he know that Cat also knew who the Rangers were.

"I'm sure she is." Cat said sadly. "But with the plague and everything...I'd just be happier if I could talk to her."

"It is always difficult to be parted from those we love in times of crisis." Ernie replied sympathetically. "All we can do is have faith that things will work out for the best."

Just then, they heard a commotion outside. Ernie tried to get up, but the pain was too great. Cat just signalled that she was going to see what the fuss was about.

Outside, people started to run scared as they saw the first wave of the attack. Dozens of Loogies poured through the streets surrounding the mall from all directions, but they were not regular Loogies. With his Brotherhood gone, Priest had made a few personal "modifications" to them. The creatures here were shambling slowly through the streets, lurching forward in an undignified gait. They were preceded by a foul stench, and clouds of insects attracted to the smell of decay. Their flesh was covered in sores and cuts which festered in a sickening manner. They had been infected, turning them into walking biological weapons.

In the centre of the line, Priest walked along, standing clearly chest, head and shoulders above them. Due to his increased power, he was now almost twelve feet in height. He pulled back his hood, revealing his hideous face. His one remaining eye seemed to almost glow as he looked out in delight.

"Dance then, wherever you may be!" He taunted as the citizens ran from him. Unfortunately, anywhere they went, more of his shambling hordes of infected Loogies cut them off. Any that weren't immediately scared back towards the mall, being herded to a central location, fell to the oozing daggers of the Loogies, becoming instantly infected, and being left to fall to the ground and suffer. "How you run, scurrying, swarming together in vain hopes of safety in numbers. How entirely similar your kind are to my former kin."

A large, glass orb, filled with a swirling mist appeared in his hand, which he threw with all his might, smashing it and sending a cloud of gas billowing out. More victims fell to his virus.

"Behold the End Times; bow down to the Lord of Pestilence!" He roared. "Repent, and follow my glorious lead. Otherwise, fall to the delight of agonising..."

"Oh, would you PLEASE shut up?" Lauren announced as the Rangers arrived. The Samurai and Megaforce team all assembled before him. "You really love the sound of your own voice don't you?"

"All zealots do." Troy added.

"Um...is it just me, or did he get a hell of a lot bigger?" Jake asked.

"His power levels are going off the scale." Noah told them.

"As you see, as your city gets weaker, the Lord of Pestilence only gets stronger!" Priest told them. "My fallen brothers' sacrifice was not in vain, by consuming them; I have increased my power to unimaginable levels."

"Uh...did he just say he ATE his buddies?" Antonio asked.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Jake added, balking at the thought.

"Yeah, cannibalism is kind of icky for humans." Emily told them. "For Rats...it's not such a problem. If they're hungry, they'll eat pretty much anything."

"Well, now we know how they've been increasing their power." Troy stated. "Everyone spread out, take care of these Loogies and let the people get out of here. The last thing we need is an epidemic."

Just then, they heard the sound of jets, and once more, the Robo Knight blasted through the sky.

"Oh great, that's all we need." Jake complained. "Innocent bystanders, combustible elements, and now Psycho Knight!"

Robo Knight landed directly in front of Priest, and strode towards him. Priest though, didn't seem concerned. As he threw a punch, it collided with his chest, and Priest caught his wrist. The force of the blow drove him back, churning up concrete, but he stood his ground. The Rangers heard the metallic ring from the blow, and were stunned.

"He...he took it!" Emma stammered. Priest threw off his robe, revealing that he was wearing armour, a dull metal breast plate and pauldrons, which led to armour the full way down his arms and hands. Plates on his thighs and greaves completed the suit. The metal was dull, but covered in wires and tubes, though its high tech nature was corrupted by some corrosion and miscolouring ooze. Priest just smiled as he grabbed Robo Knight by the throat.

"You have Vrak to thank for my new toys." He stated, bringing back his fist. "My turn!"

He punched Robo Knight, sending him tumbling through the street, ending up going through a building scaffold, which collapsed on top of him. Emma just looked to him in horror.

"He just...he just...slapped him down like he was nothing!"

"Emma, see to the citizens." Troy reiterated. "Lauren and I will deal with him."

Emma and the others all rushed out in all directions, aiming to take out the Loogies to reduce the odds against them. With nine of them on the task, the odds were still over ten to one, but the priority was allowing people to get away. They could always come back and help the others with Priest when they got back.

Lauren and Troy started to approach. Lauren drew her Spin Sword as Troy summoned his Dragon Sword.

"If you think that armour's going to make any difference, you've got another think coming." Troy replied.

"I agree, perhaps I do need a little more firepower." He replied, pulling out a huge ball and chain. As he dropped the ball to the ground, vents opened up in the sides, and it started to spew green, contagious fumes. He started to swing it around in huge arcs, spreading fumes in all directions.

"With that thing he could infect the block in minutes!" Troy called out.

"I guess we have to shut him down fast then!" Lauren replied as they charged towards him.

From his vantage point a little way off, Vrak felt conflicted. His creations had done exactly as he had been instructed, and greatly increased Priest's already considerable power. However, watching things progressing, he had to wonder if that was exactly a good thing. Priest already wielded a worrying level of power, and he was completely insane, focused on his demented ideals of spreading sickness to all around him. He could see that he was giving the Rangers a run for their money. He had already come close to accomplishing something that none of their creations ever had. He had taken the Robo Knight out of the battle early, with relative ease.

He watched on, seeing the assembled forces of the Samurai and the Megaforce dealing with the infected Loogies. Citizens, those that were healthy enough to run, did so, most of them stopping to help those that had been infected, carrying them away. He pondered for a moment Priest's rhetoric about how rats and humans were so similar, and it occurred to him how wrong he was. His kind, the rats, would never act in such a way. They would, without a second thought, claw their way through their own in their desperation to escape. The humans though, even knowing the dangers, were actually stopping to help those too weak to get away.

As he turned his attention back to the battle, Priest sent Troy slamming into a wall with his flail, crushing him with its weight. As Lauren tried to counter, a flick of his wrist brought it back, causing it to wrap itself around her, binding her in the chain. He pulled her off her feet, leaving her helpless on the ground, being crushed as the chain tightened around her.

"To think Lord Bluefur was so worried about you Rangers." Priest commented. "Here I find myself about to destroy two teams. I always did think his lack of faith in my divine cause was holding him back."

He started to make his way closer.

"Now that I have this power, perhaps it is time I made my fellow mutants see the wisdom in my creed." He suggested. "Of course, first it will require the untimely end of the unfaithful, and I doubt My Lord will ever kneel to me as the prophet of..."

Just as he was speaking, he heard some rummaging nearby. The scaffolding started to move and eventually, the Robo Knight burst through, standing back up, having finally dug himself out from under the building. Shaking off the rubble, he started to advance.

"Oh, you're back are you?" Priest taunted him as he turned his attention his way. Seeing the distraction, Lauren took her opportunity, and with her one free hand, clipped the Black Box to her Spin Sword.

"Super Samurai Mode!" She called out, powering up. She was able to slice herself free, and flip back to her feet. Surging forward, she slashed across Priest's body, cutting through the armour in a blazing strike. He screamed out in agony, but remained on his feet.

"It wasn't enough!" Lauren called out. "Guys, pour it on!"

"Sky Brothers!" Troy and Emma called out, clipping the Ptera and Hawk shots to their blasters.

"Land Brothers!" Gia and Jake added, clipping the Rhino and Dino shots to their blasters.

"Sea Brothers!" Noah concluded, clipping on the Ray shot. Priest turned to face them as Lauren snatched up the Bullzooka.

"Right, all at once!" She called out. "NOW!"

In a huge flash of light, and summoning all the power they could muster, the Rangers opened fire, striking Priest square in the chest. Smoke billowing from his body, he fell over backwards and stopped moving.

"Come on guys, we still have Loogies to deal with." Troy stated. Just then though, they saw Zombats descending. Lauren just looked to Troy.

"Most of the Loogies are gone; we'll deal with the rest." She told him. "You guys deal with him."

"Alright guys, you heard her." Troy stated, pulling out his morpher. "It's time to end this plague once and for all!"

Priest had just finished his transformation, growing to massive size. His flail and armour had been repaired, meaning he was now at full strength. By the time the Rangers assembled the Gosei Grand Megazord, he was already beginning to swing the flail, spewing out fumes.

"OK, it was bad before, but at this size, he'll infect the whole city!" Jake yelled as he took the controls.

"We need to take this guy down." Troy agreed. Priest slammed the flail into them, sending sparks flying.

"Oh great, now he's getting in on the action!" Gia complained as the Knight Brothers Megazord landed between them, catching the ball, tugging hard on the chain and bringing Priest staggering forward into a grapple.

"We need time to regroup after that last shot anyway." Noah reminded them. "Right now, we can use all the help we can get...even if he is completely bat shit!"

Priest and the Knight Brothers Megazord jostled back and forward for position. Priest glared into its face as it started to force him backward, putting it on the back foot.

"You see, I'm stronger, Plague is the only true strength!" Priest screamed in a delighted cackle. "As everything else gets weaker, decay gets stronger, and as the Lord of Pestilence, I AM ALPOWERFUL!"

"Let's see how long you feel that way!" The Robo Knight's voice came forth, as it brought back a hand. With all its strength, it took its hand, and rammed its thumb into Priest's one remaining eye, completely obliterating it. Blood ran down his face as he let out a hellish scream, and started to stagger around blindly.

"God, that was...jeez!" Jake stammered, amazed by what he had seen.

"Systems are back on line." Noah announced. "Troy, this is our chance!"

The Knight Brothers Megazord hit him with its Victory Charge, shattering the armour. Troy just smiled.

"Alright guys, you know what to do!" He called out as they soared into the air. "Victory Charge!"

The Megazord soared down, slamming into Priest, who clutched the wound in his chest. He started to laugh as he fell to his knees.

"The cycle of decay comes to us all." He replied. "Even in death, I serve the greatest power."

With that, he fell forward, and stopped moving. The Rangers all looked at the massive corpse.

"You think he's...?" Before he could ask, Jake saw the Knight Brothers Megazord firing off a blast, completely incinerating the body. He just sighed. "Never mind."

"At least it doesn't look like he'll be infecting anyone else now." Gia replied. "Come on, the others will probably be grateful for the help."

As they sent the Zords back to the base, and landed on the ground, the Samurai were just finishing up with the last of the Loogies. Emily cut down the last of them, falling to her knees, exhausted as she did so.

"Man, it's amazing how quickly you forget how much of a workout this is." She commented in deep breaths.

"You said it." Mike agreed, leaning on his Spin Sword. "Hey, look, it's the new guys!"

"Nice job." Lauren complimented them.

Just then, the Robo Knight arrived. Troy approached him, extending a hand.

"Thanks for the help." He stated. Robo Knight just glared at him. "Um...Jordan?"

"You have not been designated a threat to the world." Robo Knight stated, slamming a hand into his chest and sending Troy sprawling onto his butt. "If you or your team get in my way again, that will be reassessed."

With that, he blasted off again. The Rangers all watched him go, Jake helping him back up.

"OK, that definitely will be a problem." Gia replied. "What's going on with him?"

"I have a theory on that." Noah told them. "I'll tell you all about it once we get back to the Command Centre."

With that, they disappeared, leaving the authorities to deal with the aftermath. Priest was gone, and with the cure in full production, it would only be a matter of time before his plague would end too. The nightmare of the Brotherhood was no more.

Back at Central Harwood Hospital, Dana was checking on her patients, delighted with their progress. Even though more were arriving as a result of the latest attack, they now knew that the treatment worked, and they were prepared for them.

As she took another break, she started to look around for Tensou. She knew that the CDC would never have been able to find a cure in time without him. Finding he wasn't at the lab, she started to search around the hospital. Eventually, she stopped as she passed the Children's Ward, finding the kids a lot brighter and happier. On closer inspection, she could see why. Tensou was in the middle of the ward, spinning around, hopping up and down, flashing lights, playing music, and generally doing tricks much to the delight of the kids. Dana watched him for a moment with a smile.

"Alright kids, that's enough." Dana told them. "You all need to get rest if you're going to get better."

"Aw...but we want to play with Tensou!" One of the little girls whined. Dana looked to the little robot, and although his face wasn't the most expressive, she could swear she felt like he was having fun too. Here, he had people that would give him attention and adulation, who were young and innocent enough to not react to the fact he was a robot...other than to find it cool. She just gestured to him to come.

"Well, Tensou needs rest too." She told them. "We need to recharge his batteries."

The kids were a little disappointed, but they all accepted that. Clearly they thought Tensou was some kind of toy, something Dana was banking on. They all hugged him in order. The little robot was delighted receiving this adulation. Spending all his time in the Command Centre, he didn't really get this kind of worship.

"I made this for you." One of the girls told Tensou, giving him a drawing she'd done of him. He took it, at which she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Get well soon." He called to them as he hugged her back, before rolling away after Dana. She just looked to him.

"You know, I don't really need to recharge." Tensou told her. "My power pack lasts a millennium..."

"People aren't really used to seeing too many robots Tensou." She reminded him, before patting him on the head. "But you did good work. You're a real hero."

"Aw, thanks." He replied, becoming embarrassed as she took him back to the lab. "Um...do you think Gosei would let me visit the kids again before I go back to the lab? I kind of like spending time with humans."

"Yeah, not sure how that would work." She answered. "Come on, why don't we go over the results and back up both our files before Gosei brings you home?"


	9. The Quarantine Ends

The CDC was wrapping things up at Cerberus, doing their final checks to make sure that the cure was working before lifting the quarantine on the building. With the hospitals full, they had to give in their details so that doctors could come to them and follow up on their progress when they went home. Those that were healthy enough were simply sent home with instructions to rest, and keep their fluids up.

Louise was sitting on a couch, being checked over as Eric watched on. Being the first to fall ill, she was firmly in the former group. Even having been treated, she still wasn't a hundred percent, and was clearly still quite weak.

"OK, we're happy that the treatment's working, but we'd still like to do a follow-up visit." The doctor told her. "I just need you to give us your address..."

"747 Dunkeld." Eric called over. Louise just looked at him.

"Eric, that's your place..."

"Louise, you're still not well." He told her, looking to her eyes. "I'll call the motel and tell them to hold your room, but until you're a hundred percent, I'd be happier if you had someone that could keep an eye on you."

"Could you give us a minute please?" Louise asked the doctor. He headed out of the room, leaving Eric and Louise alone. "Eric, do you really think that's such a good idea?"

"I'm not pushing anything, I know its way too soon for anything like that." Eric assured her. "I'll sleep on the couch, you can take my bed. I just want you to stay until the doctor's happy that the virus is gone."

She just got up off the couch and headed to the door, stopping just before she got there.

"One condition." She told him. "Don't cook. I just about managed to get over this, the last thing I need is to be finished off by your cooking."

"Trust me, the last thing I feel like doing is cooking after that." He chuckled. With that, Louise opened the door.

"The address is 747 Dunkeld." She told the doctor. As she closed the door, she looked back to Eric. "So...um...what about that other thing?"

"The other thing?" He asked.

"It's not like we're teenagers anymore Eric, neither of us has exactly dated in a long time." She reminded him. "I know I'm a bit nervous about all of this, not to mention Eleanor was my best friend. I know I can't be the only one feeling a little weird about all of this."

"I have thought about her a lot since all of this." He admitted.

"Then there's also the girls." She reminded him. "Gia might be resilient, but she is still pretty raw about everything that happened with Gerald, and I'm sure Emma's going to find it odd seeing you dating again after..."

"Louise, I've thought about all of that." Eric assured her. "The thing is, there's never going to be an ideal time. We're never going to magically find a time where this isn't going to not be weird; the fact is it always is."

"Eric..."

"I loved Eleanor, and I always will." He told her. "I'm not looking for a replacement. I guess I'm just finally ready to move on and let myself be happy with someone else. Someone I've loved for a long time."

"But..."

"If this has shown me one thing, it's that I could have lost you, and I wouldn't have had a chance to tell you what you mean to me." He told her. "Not everyone gets a second chance. Now that I have that chance, I think we owe it to ourselves not to throw that chance away."

"And the girls?" She asked. Eric just sighed and held her.

"That's another matter." He told her. "I'm not suggesting we rush into anything. We'll tell them eventually, but maybe we should just figure out things for ourselves first?"

"I guess that makes sense." She answered, parting from him a little way. "So, can we go back to your place now? I'm still kind of wiped."

"Whatever you say." He replied, turning on his answering machine and gathering his jacket. "So, any idea what you'd like to pick up for dinner?"

At Central Harwood Hospital, Tensou was just finishing up his final check of his data, before backing up a copy for himself.

"Well, that should just about do it." Tensou announced. "You've got everything you need here. All the patients seem to be on the mend, I guess all that's left is to say goodbye."

"We couldn't have done it without you Tensou." Dana said with a smile, patting his head. "You really are a miracle worker."

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" One of the military officers demanded. Tensou just turned to face him.

"Um...home?" Tensou suggested. "I helped you like I said I would..."

"OK, what's going on here Captain?" Dana asked the soldier. He just looked to her and pointed to Tensou.

"That thing did in a single day what it would have taken our best lab techs and the most sophisticated computers we have months, maybe even years to do!" He yelled. "Do you really want to just let something like that slip through our fingers?"

"You're out of line Captain." Dana stated. "My father will hear about this. You know he's golf partners with the head of the Ministry of Defence..."

"I am not about to just let that thing go." The Captain announced. "He's far too valuable! Think about all it could do for the nation!"

"He came here in good faith; the Rangers brought him here in good faith!" Dana snapped at him. "Now you want to repay that by kidnapping him?"

"For starters, look at him, he's not a human, it's not kidnapping, it's acquisition." The Captain put down flatly.

"The Rangers need his help." Dana replied. "Would you put the safety of the whole world at stake for your own selfish gain?"

"I am not letting that thing..."

"My name is TENSOU!" The little robot stated, rolling into his face. "And I am leaving to go back home!"

"What do you really think your odds are of getting out of here?" The Captain asked. Tensou's eyes glowed red, before a high voltage charge shot out of his body, sending the Captain flying across the room.

"Better than average." Tensou replied, before teleporting out of the room. Dana rounded on the Captain, standing over his fallen form, her arms folded.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm making that call to my dad." She informed the soldier, throwing a newspaper at him. "If I were you, I'd be looking up the help wanted section."

With that, she stormed out of the room. She knew exactly what it meant to be a Ranger. Messing with a team, even one she hadn't had the chance to meet around her was a bad idea.

Meanwhile, over at the Command Centre, the Megaforce and Samurai teams came back following their victory. Priest and his Brotherhood had caused the city tremendous damage, but the CDC and the military were working hard on setting things right.

"OK, so they know the reservoir is the problem." Troy stated. "Is there any way we can...?"

"I have been monitoring the reservoir since we informed the military of the issue." Gosei interrupted him. "They are already working on decontaminating the water supply."

"Until then, they're keeping up a steady supply of fresh water coming in." Lauren informed them. "Ji just called to let us know."

"Dad just called." Emma informed Gia as she put away her phone. "He said that your mom's been treated, but the doctor's coming for a follow-up visit. He said she'll be staying at ours until the doctor clears her to go back to her own place."

"Well, that's a relief." Gia answered. "I know how bad I still feel, and I was only sick for a couple of hours."

"I could sleep for a week." Jake replied. "How about you Noah?"

"Noah didn't say anything, instead just nodding as he checked out some computer displays.

"Oh God!" Gia called out as she checked her phone. "13 missed calls and...27 messages?"

"Let me guess, Cat?" Emma teased her. She looked to the others. "Her girlfriend's a little clingy."

"Hey, Jayden would be the same way." Antonio assured her with a smile.

"Jayden?" Jake asked.

"My little brother." Lauren told him. "He was our Red Ranger for most of the war. But...he's been a little busy in Washington lately."

"He was working on the Anti-Prop 8 campaign." Antonio concluded. "He has some stuff to wrap up with the offices. I can't wait until he gets back."

"So, you two are...you know...?" Jake asked him. Antonio just shrugged.

"There are over a hundred former Rangers out there, and most studies show that roughly one in twenty people are either gay or bisexual. You don't honestly think all of them were straight do you?" He asked, looking to where Gia was on the phone, talking rapidly to Cat, trying to assure her she was alright. "I guess the thing that made it a little easier for Jayden and I was that we were both Rangers. We both knew what we were getting into, and we both knew the risks involved."

"That does make things a little easier." Troy agreed, taking Emma's hand softly. She looked to Noah, who was also smiling, and finally felt happy to give Troy's hand a little squeeze. It still wasn't ideal, and she still didn't like the fact that he had been hurt, but at least now they had talked, and they had both come to terms with their new place in each others' lives.

"Speaking of our loved ones, I should really check in with Mia." Kevin replied as his phone rang. He could see from caller ID that it was Mia, and knew she'd have been glued to the news reports, waiting from word on the battle. He answered it, putting a finger in one ear so he could hear. "Mia...yes...yes we're safe...just clam down...Mia...!"

As he ended the call, he shook his head.

"Hey, you chose her man." Terry reminded him. "I just kind of got stuck with her."

"Pregnancy really is doing a number on her." Kevin admitted. "I'm more terrified of her than I ever was of Xandred!"

"Speaking of which, I'd really like to get back to Serena." Emily said with a smile. "She said the baby was moving!"

"That's my boy!" Mike answered proudly. "Or...girl, I guess."

"OK, I just have to ask, what gives with that?" Gia asked. "I mean, I'm not saying my family's normal or anything, my dad kidnapped me and tried to turn me straight a few months back, but seriously, your sister is having his kid?"

"Yeah." Emily answered.

"And Serena's your fiancée?" She added, pointing to Terry.

"Yeah, she is." Terry answered. Gia and the Megaforce team all just looked completely baffled.

"And all of you are seriously cool with this situation?" Gia asked. "What the hell?"

Emily, Terry and Mike all looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"OK, I think we've had enough fun." Emily stated, looking to them. "After the last battle, we found out I can't have kids. Well...the doctors said the odds are so heavily against it, they may as well be impossible."

"Unlike other Ranger teams, our power runs in our family bloodlines." Mike explained. "We could adopt, but the kid wouldn't have our Symbol Power. Any children have to be of our bloodline if they're going to carry on the legacy of our Symbol Power, so I thought it would end up being a cousin or something that would inherit the power."

"Then Serena came up with option C." Terry explained. "She's Emily's surrogate. The baby she's having is technically Mike and Emily's, genetically speaking."

"So there's a fifty/fifty chance that the kid will inherit the Forest Symbol Power." Mike concluded, holding Emily closely. "That way, the legacy of the Green Samurai bloodline will continue in my branch of the family tree."

"That makes sense I guess." Gia replied a little sheepishly. Terry just put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, we know it sounds odd. We know it had to sound pretty messed up." Terry concluded. "Hell, I'm on the inside and even I don't believe we're going through with this at times."

"My sister gave us an awesome gift." Emily explained. "It's something I'll always be grateful for."

"So, it looks like we're over the worst of the problems with the Brotherhood." Jake answered. "So, that just leaves us with one problem."

"What do we do about the psychotic tin can?" Mike answered.

"Hey, one of our friends is in that suit." Troy reminded him in warning. Although he could appreciate Mike's point of view on the subject, the fact was that it was still Jordan in the suit. None of them were looking forward to the prospect of a conflict. "Noah, you said you have a theory about this."

"Well, I've been analysing the footage of the battles he's been in since...well...since he went rogue." Noah replied. "I've noticed something about his style..."

"You mean that it's laying waste to the whole city?" Jake asked.

"Exactly." Noah answered. "Kind of like...when the Robo Knight first showed up right? Before Jordan was in control?"

"So you think the armour's taken control of him again?" Emma asked.

"I'd say it's a strong bet." Noah answered.

"Wait...I thought Gosei said that couldn't happen." Troy stated. He turned to Gosei. "I thought you said once the wearer became in synch with the armour that he was in control for good."

"That has always been the case." Gosei told them.

"Well, what if he was never in synch with the armour?" Noah said, looking to the team.

"OK, you're going to have to run that past me again." Kevin chipped in, taking a sip of water. "We saw him use it..."

"But if you remember, Jordan only started controlling the armour when Psychotick was draining his power, when he was trying to reprogram him." Noah stated. "We all know that just like our Ranger technology, the Robo Knight Technology self-repairs right? That's why we don't go into battles with holes in our suits or our weapons falling to pieces right?"

"Our tech had similar properties." Antonio told them as he gestured to his team. "So, what does that have to do with...wait...I think I see what you're getting at!"

"Um...mind filling in for the rest of us?" Kevin asked, sounding impatient. "You know, for those of us who DON'T speak computer nerd?"

"Hacking a computer is a lot like cracking a lock. There are several ways to do it, some more refined than others." Antonio explained. "Depending on how crude the method of hacking is, sometimes it can leave behind a lot of damage in the programming. Kind of like the difference between picking a lock, and kicking the door open."

"So you think...?"

"I think when Psychotick tried to hack the Robo Knight's system; he got more resistance than he bargained for. I think he left behind a lot of damage in the Robo Knight's main control software." Noah continued with his explanation. "I don't think Jordan ever really synchronised with the programming. I don't think he ever really took control. I think that the programming was just too damaged to resist his control, so it just allowed him to do so."

"So if the Robo Knight's programming self-repairs just like the rest of him..."

"Then when the programming repaired itself, it would try to take back control!" Emma concluded, interrupting Troy. She looked horrified at the thought. No one tried harder than Jordan to succeed. He'd had more than his share of obstacles in his path to joining the team. To think that he was now trapped in the armour, unable to control it...she couldn't imagine anything worse. "So the Robo Knight's reverted back to its base programming."

"So now he sees anything that threatens the planet as a target." Noah concluded. "And given what happened with Troy, I'd say he's also including anyone or anything that gets in his way too, including us if we try and stop him."

"Well unfortunately that's not going to be an option." Troy replied. "If he's going to tear up the city, then we have to stop him, regardless of what it means he'll do to us."

"Look, we know what it's like dealing with some psycho running around unchecked." Kevin stated, thinking back on Dekker's single-minded pursuit of his own destruction at the hands of a worthy foe. "Maybe we should stick around..."

"No, you have your own lives now." Troy insisted. "We appreciate the offer, but Jordan's our friend, and this is our fight. We need to deal with this."

"Well, you know how to contact us if you need any backup." Lauren told him. "Panorama's not that far away."

"We appreciate it." Troy answered. "So, are you heading straight home?"

"Well...it is kind of tradition that when a past Ranger team helps out another, the veterans treat the rookies to a meal." Emily told them. "I hear there's a great ice cream place..."

"Thanks, but we should really be looking for Robo Knight..."

"If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. We can search for him when the explosions start." Gia rushed out, grabbing Troy. "Come on, let's go!"

"Guess where her girlfriend works." Emma told them. With that, they all teleported into the city.

At the Chemical Plant, Bluefur was on a rampage. Priest had been so close to finishing the Rangers he could taste it. Vrak was just standing, calmly watching the display. He just moved aside a couple of inches as an old engine block that Bluefur used as a footstool for his throne came soaring past his head.

"I guess this isn't the best time to bring up the fact that the Robo Knight is still on the loose, and by the looks of it, he's not playing by the same rules as the others." He said in a casual drawl. "Perhaps in future, we should concentrate more on combined efforts and less on individual ego trips?"

"GET OUT!" Bluefur roared. As Vrak left, he couldn't help smiling.

"And my position is secure." He said to himself as he pulled a piece of machinery out of his cloak and turned it over in his hand. "Now, I'm sure I meant to put this into that armour."


	10. A Victory Sundae

The Samurai and the Megaforce Rangers all arrived at the Brainfreeze, crowding the place out. With the CDC happy to call the quarantine off, a lot of the people that had been hanging out in the Brainfreeze while they waited for word it was safe to go home had left. It was a huge relief to Theo, Luen and Cat. While it had meant a very healthy boost to the profit margins, they had all been effectively stuck there all day, and all of them were exhausted. Cat in particular had taken her job to take the heavy lifting off Ernie because of his injuries was pretty much completely wiped out. They came in to find her in a corner booth, slumped over the table, snoring loudly. It wasn't necessarily the greatest image for the Brainfreeze, but between the fact no one else was there, and the fact she had been working on and off for close to 16 hours straight, Theo and Luen were only too happy to let her rest.

"I'll go and order up." Emily told them. "What do you guys...?"

"Usual." Troy called to Theo.

"Same." Jake chipped in.

"Make that the usual all round." Emma added as she sat down with Troy, taking his arm and wrapping it around herself.

"Wow, I guess you guys come here a lot." Emily surmised, turning her attention back to the counter. "Um...well the special sounds good for me, Terry Knickerbocker Glory?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." He added. "Strawberry if you can, extra raspberry syrup?"

"Got to stick with the colour scheme huh?" Jake teased him. Terry just sighed.

"Are you still on that?" Terry asked him.

"Dude, you're a dude...and you're PINK!" He teased him. Terry just looked to Lauren.

"When we train with them, I am so taking Jake." He told Lauren. Mike just chuckled as he gestured to his wife.

"Mint chip sundae here." Mike called over.

"Same." Kevin added. Lauren just smiled.

"Chocolate, definitely chocolate." She stated. "Same for Antonio."

"Alright, that'll be thirty bucks." Theo told her as Luen started to work on their order. Emily just furrowed her brows.

"Really? Only thirty?" She asked him.

"Special discount." He answered as she handed over the money. Emily just shrugged as she put her wallet away. Noah joined her at the counter.

Gia meanwhile had seen Cat sleeping in the corner, and made her way over. She placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook her gently.

"Five more minutes please." She mumbled. Gia just brushed some of her hair out of the way so she could see her face. She couldn't help smiling as she saw her.

"Cat...Cat, it's me." Gia whispered. Cat started to slowly stir.

"Gia?" She asked. "You...you're alright!"

"Not quite, but I will be." Gia answered. "I was sick, but I got the cure early. I'll be fine in a day or so."

"I was so worried, I couldn't reach you." Cat told her as she lifted up her head. It was then that Gia saw melted ice cream running down the side of her face. She couldn't help laughing.

"Um...Cat? You...uh...fell asleep in your sundae." Gia informed her.

"What?" Cat asked in response. It was only then that she felt something cold dripping down her face. She looked a little sheepish as she started trying to clean herself up. Gia though couldn't help finding the whole scene more than a little cute. She loved Cat's little ditzy moments. She loved how she could always see the best in anything. She loved her. "Oh."

"Theo, mind if we go and get cleaned up?" Gia asked. Theo just gestured them into the back. Emily just watched them go, smiling.

"Well, they seem happy." She commented as Noah came over to help her carry the sundaes. He picked up a couple of them.

"Yeah, they are." He commented. "I'm happy for them. It isn't easy finding something that makes you happy in times like this."

"It sounds like you're talking from experience." Emily stated, looking at him. He just nodded.

"It's...it's fine, we've straightened it out." He told her. "I was into Emma, but she's with Troy. It's no biggie."

"Well, it never feels good." Emily told him. "Mia, my best friend, she was really into Jayden at first."

"Jayden?" Noah asked her. "Isn't he...?"

"Well, none of us knew that at the time." Emily explained. "Even he hadn't figured it out. He just knew he didn't feel the same way about her. It was a while before she ended up being happy with Kevin."

"Well, I guess Jake was into Gia." Noah commented. "He makes out like it's no big deal, but a lot of its just bravado. I guess it's always going to suck being a spare wheel."

She put a hand on his arm and smiled.

"Sometimes these things take a while." Emily assured him. "I'm just one of the insanely lucky ones. Very few people are lucky enough to find the right person first time around. It'll probably happen without you even realising it."

"Yeah, because I'm what women want." He chuckled, gesturing to himself. "The right girl's just going to walk right up to the counter any second now and..."

"Noah, Hi!" Quinn greeted him as she came in, joining them by the counter. "How are you?"

"Um..."

"I've been swamped at the Wildlife Centre all day, because of the quarantine we've had to work twice as hard to make sure all the animals were fed and watered...and I remembered when I last saw you, you were drinking tap water! Did you get sick, are you...?"

"It's fine Quinn." Noah assured her. "I did get sick, but I got the cure pretty quickly. I'm still a little shaky, but I'll be fine."

"Oh, I almost forgot." She stated, pulling an application form out of her pocket and handing it to him. He just stared blankly at her. "Um...last time we talked, you said you were broke? I said I'd get you an application form."

"Oh...yeah, right of course." Noah answered. "Thanks."

"I also had a word with Mr Evans, the caretaker." She rushed out. "I told him all about you, how you love science and how you're one of the smartest kids in class, he seemed really eager to meet you."

"Thanks Quinn." Noah said with a smile. "I guess it would be nice to put my hand in my pocket and feel something other than my leg."

"Well...I know it's a little early since you haven't had an interview yet, but would you maybe like to take me up on the offer of that milkshake?" She asked him.

"I'm with company." He told her regretfully. "Maybe we can take a rain check?"

"Uh...OK." She replied, sounding a little disappointed. "I guess I'm taking my milkshake to go then. Mr Evans wants to see you tomorrow, ten AM."

"I'll be there." Noah answered. "Thanks again for this."

As she left, Noah picked up a couple of the sundaes and started to ferry them over to the table. Mike came up to her, seeing the way Emily was looking at Noah.

"OK, I know that look." He sighed.

"He really is completely clueless." Emily commented. "Did you see that? What does the girl need to do? Wear a t-shirt saying 'I'm into you, please ask me out?' He's hopeless!"

"Emily, not everyone's relationships is your business." He reminded her. "Just because you've had a little success..."

"A little?" She asked him. "Mia and Kevin, Spike and Vicky, Terry and Serena...I'm batting a hundred."

"I'm not going to talk you out of this am I?" Mike asked her. She just smiled sweetly at him as he picked up a couple of dishes.

"Have you ever been able to before?" She asked him. "He's going for a job interview tomorrow, so he's going to skip out on our traditional training session. I think the rest of you can get by without me."

As she went back towards the tables, Mike just shook his head.

"I really hope he's prepared for this." Mike commented. "My wife the matchmaker."

Meanwhile, over in another part of town, a truck rolled out to a disused quarry. The two men got out of the truck, while a third waited inside the cab. One of the men was quite young, maybe only around nineteen. He looked around uneasily.

"You're not afraid of the dark now are you kid?" The foreman asked him, sitting in the cab of the truck. He looked to his newspaper.

"No...I'm just worried about the authorities." The kid replied nervously. "I mean, this doesn't seem like a good idea. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Look, the waste management centre is another five miles down the road." The other guy said as he got a shovel and made his way towards the back of the truck. "It'll take us another half hour to get there, and the same to get back."

"But..."

"Not to mention that the company makes at least one of these trips a day." The Foreman reminded him. "Ten miles might not sound like much, but ten miles there and back, three hundred days a year; we're saving the company a fortune in fuel costs."

"But what about the fines?" The kid asked him. "What about the fact that we could end up with a record? I don't want to get a record, if the board of directors..."

"Who do you think told us about this place kid?" The one with the shovel asked as he opened the back of the truck, spilling waste onto the ground. He climbed inside, and using the shove, started to help shove out waste as the Foreman started to tilt the trailer to tip out the waste. The kid still looked around uneasily.

"But...if the cops..."

"Trust me kid, we've been coming here for a year and a half, no one gives a shit." The Foreman stated in an exasperated tone. "For God's sake, the cops never come out here!"

"But..."

"Hey, my name is Barry Winston and I came here to buy five tons of cocaine!" The one in the back of the truck yelled at the top of his lungs. "I brought a shipment of twenty thousand AK 47's to trade for it! Any takers!"

The kid just started to clench his jaw. He had genuine fears that they were risking a criminal record by being out here, but these two were treating it like a joke.

"Say Barry, make sure you bury those fifty bodies good and deep this time!" The Foreman called out loudly, before folding up his paper and going back to his Sudoku puzzle as Barry continued to work. "Seriously kid, no cops ever come out here. Just get on with it so we can go home. Doing it this way, the company saves some money, and we go home an hour early. It's a win/win situation."

As the kid just sighed and grabbed a shovel, he turned around to see a red glow in the distance. He immediately worried that his fear of the police finding them dumping illegally had come to pass, but that soon passed as the light came closer. He heard heavy footfalls in the gravel, and eventually the figure came close enough for them to see. The Robo Knight's armour reflected in the moonlight as he approached them.

"Um...boss?" The kid stammered as he saw the Robo Knight approaching. "I think you should see this."

"What now?" The Foreman asked as he got out of the truck. He stopped stock still as he saw the Robo Knight standing before them. "What the...?"

"You pollute the earth for your own selfish gain." The Robo Knight declared. "You are enemies of the Earth."

"What?" Barry asked in alarm, holding up his hands. "Look man, we're just..."

"Hold up Barry, don't worry about this." He declared with a smile. "It'll just be one of the guys playing a trick on the new kid, trying to freak him out."

"It's working." The kid said in a quiet voice. The Foreman approached, smiling at the Robo Knight.

"Come on, that looks nothing like the Ranger guy, it's obviously a cheap knock-off." He stated. "Look, this is all plastic!"

He knocked on the Robo Knight's forehead with an ominous clang. He gulped deeply, and turned slowly towards him, realising his mistake. This was no joke played to haze a young new start to the company. This really was the Robo Knight. The Robo Knight grabbed the massive foreman, hoisting him off the ground by the throat with one hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The kid shrieked. Barry gripped his shovel tightly, like he was seriously considering attacking, but his uncontrollable shaking indicated his heart was far from being in it. Robo Knight threw the Foreman into the side of the truck hard, so hard that he fell to the ground and stopped moving. The kid checked on him, finding to his relief that he was still breathing.

"What the hell?" The kid shrieked. "You're supposed to be one of the good guys!"

"And you poison the Earth." Robo Knight stated with authority, pulling out his blaster and levelling it at them. Barry threw down his shovel and held up his hands in submission.

"Come on, can't we talk about this?" He asked. "You're a Ranger! You don't go around vaporising innocent..."

"You are NOT INNOCENT!" The Robo Knight's voice rang out. He started to power up the blaster, but just as the two men were cowering, waiting for the end, the shot fired and ripped apart the back of the truck. At the last moment, the Robo Knight had pulled up his aim.

They watched as it started...screaming. The Robo Knight collapsed to his knees, dropping his blaster and clutching his head, screaming as though in agony. Barry just grabbed his boss' unconscious body, and dragged him towards the cab of the truck.

"Come on Kid!" He screamed as the younger man watched the Robo Knight fall forward on his knees, his forehead hitting the gravel as he clutched the sides of his head, almost like he was desperately trying to stop it falling apart. "Kid, that thing's gone psycho, let's go!"

The kid jumped into the cab of the truck as Barry started it up and hit the accelerator, scattering gravel in his haste as he powered the vehicle into a quick start onto the road and fled as fast as he could.

The Robo Knight finally released the sides of its helmet, and looked up. Its visor was black, but turned back red as he slowly got to his feet. He could see that his target was gone, having fled while it was struggling for control. It picked up its blaster, and put it back into its holster, before striding away into the night.

Fin.

Coming Soon...Who Controls the Knight?


End file.
